Truth By Consensus – How To Control Our Thinking – by Zen Gardner – Tuesday, December 4th, 2012

Funny how this works. People actually think they can arrive at the truth by averaging what they hear. Seriously. That’s how most people are taught to think. I get this argument all the time. It totally explains the power of the mass media. Just think about this dynamic. How do people arrive at conclusions? What information or lack thereof are they deriving them from? Pretty stark reality if you’re willing to look it in the eyes. People are incredibly similar in their outlook and understandings. And hence behaviors. Incredibly so. Like we’re following a script. Look at yourself. How you dress, the expressions you use, what you’re into. No matter what segment of society you’re living in, it’s pretty freaky. I remember when I decided to grow out my facial hair and looking in the mirror thinking, “Am I following some meme being broadcast by these bastards?”

Paranoid? Totally. It’s the only way on this planet. Completely healthy. If you’re not, you’re not awake yet. Truth is Never Popular. While a defined consensus gets established and reaffirms the status quo, “contrary” eddies of thought and realization make their way through the public psyche. These are carefully ferreted out by the watchdog media cabal and portrayed as “fringe” ideas and “conspiracy theories” of course. Carefully and dutifully packaged and sublimated into a negative subconscious arena for the mainstream unawakened. Anything contrary is now anathema, resented; spuriously thrown overboard as wing nut conspiracy talk. Typical. And more importantly…very effective and very efficient.

Getting To the Point

I’ll take Truth over BS fairy tales any day of eternity. No matter the pain and seeming loss of emotional or otherwise investments, bring on the Truth. 9/11 is always the standard reminder of how duped the world can be. Plain as the nose on your face those towers were brought down by some sort of exotic and carefully planned out demolition technique, but what the hell. No one cares. Or very few. At least that’s the portrayal we get and it seems to hold way too much water. People are even afraid to discuss the subject. That’s when you know society has been seriously hemmed in and headed for dismemberment. As obvious as it is, the Truth can just be right there without people being able to see it. It’s the condition of our “race”…we want to believe what we want and will cloak it in “positive thinking” or “idealism” or imposed bottom line security needs whenever we can for peace and comfort. Very, very sad from the Truth perspective, but oh so understandable. Blindness until awakened. What a tale. But behold the awakening in spite of all this!

Enter Psycho-Sexual Addiction

This psychological pandering we’re witnessing is simply a ploy to keep the masses asleep. The populace has been duped, hypnotized, seduced. It no longer can contain, maintain or control itself. It must have the savories and goodies of the system or it will go berserk. This addiction is firmly established. Football, advertising, game shows, reality dramas, zombie and vampire horror and sci-fi movies while sucking down addictive, poisonous foods………”Please bring it on! We want more! We want another reality, not our own!” Scantily dressed young girls, sculpted effeminized men, cross sexual weirdness of every type and genre…. …bring it on. Chaos is our new middle name–in fact, their manipulated shifting world is apparently our New Normal. ‘Chaos is the new normal’ is as cognitively dissonant as the ‘war on terrorism’. Orwell, you must be howling!

Summary

Know what you “believe” about not only their false structure, but our true reality, to the point it’s not a belief. Please know each of those as facts…not an emotional extension of some hope or sense of idealism. Be sure you’re deciding for yourself and not following anything unconsciously. We’re not used to that kind of truly independent thought, having been taught all our lives to just follow, obey and repeat, so it’s a lot of work and a set of muscles that have to be developed. You’ll see what I mean as it goes along. Affirming our conscious awakening in spirit, word and deed is our primary purpose and most potent weapon. Not only against the usurpers and the ignorance and darkness that seems to rule our current paradigm, but for the development and realization of the true conscious reality that is there to be expressed into this dimension. Get busy being and doing what you know is right and the rest will follow, I guarantee. Because that’s how it works. And do it in love. If we can wake up, anybody can. Love, Zen

“If you’re not free to follow life’s signs and live in synchronicity, you’re not free.” – Zen

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

. . . It must have the savories and goodies of the system or it will go berserk. . . . Chaos is our new middle name–in fact, their manipulated shifting world is apparently our New Normal. . . .

Actually savouries or goodies MUST not be considered such. Chaos is not ‘our’ new middle name, Chaos is not mainstream, Chaos is going to take a proper place WITHOUT punishment. There is no way ‘Chaos’ can co-opt you unless you are Chaotically inclined, and given the need of Chaos in evolution per se, I’d say Chaos is the very most important thing to ANY species which wants to move on, even as older structures become increasingly exotic and rarefied to the point of gaining value (in retarded areas of the 3rd world, the rare are villified much like LGBT, in the right places, the rare’d be exotic and invested in to ensure survival . . . ).

Religion would have taken the role of rare, but the overproliferation and low quality of followers, obvious internal rot and abusive nature of religion says that religion is already over-proliferated and people being subconsciously sick of religion, acting whatever in the only way they can, to sabotage religion much like pedo-priests protesting celibacy, Islamists protesting no alcohol and no pork rules by being violent, Buddhists acquiring car collections and much trappings of wealth and gold all around the temple (Temples to rampant-Capitalism and Greed), even as Buddha said to not be materialistic, can we see that the highest ranked in the faith actually do the most opposite? I wonder if I do enough ‘opposite’ I’d be the Ecclesiarch Primifex of the Planet . . .

. . . So get busy being and doing what you know is right and the rest will follow, I guarantee. Because that’s how it works. . . .

Don’t accidentally co-opt what is already known as your own!

@Zen appears to be quite fused with whatever mass mind or community hive @Zen is from (@Zen is less hive minded overall but still enough to identify that the mindset is still hivelike). Truth By Consensus problems as describe above are however correct. Subversive article with a good NLP positive article that disparages ‘Chaos’? Hard to say, but whatever we gravitate to, that is what we truly are, everything else is just nonsense, regardless of whatever laws or social trends, though spaces appropriate to size and facilities must be available to all and sundry in either case.

BEIJING, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) — China has expressed serious concern and firm opposition to a U.S. bill that regards China’s territory as under the authority of a U.S.-Japan security pact.

At a regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters, “The Chinese side expresses serious concern and firm opposition to the U.S. Senate’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which involves the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets.”

In the bill, which the U.S. Senate passed last week, the United States reaffirmed that it “takes no position” on the ultimate sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands. However, the bill notes that Japan has the rights of administration over the territory and that “unilateral actions of a third party” would not affect its position.

Hong said the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets have always been the inherent territory of China since ancient times, and China has undisputed sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands.

According to the U.S. bill, any armed attack “in the territories under the administration of Japan” would be met under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security.

Hong called the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan as a “product of the Cold War era”, saying it should not go beyond bilateral scopes, nor undermine the interests of a third party.

Hong said the U.S. side has repeatedly stated that it will not take sides on territory disputes between China and Japan.

He said the U.S. side “should not send out signals that conflict with each other.” He expressed the hope that the U.S. side would “proceed from the general situation of peace and stability of the region”, “keep its words” and “do more things that are conducive to peace and stability in the region.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The islands were part of Chinese territory with an indigenous people that accepted vassalship under the Chinese Emperor until the 8 Foreign Powers invasion and later Japanese expansion in WW1 and 2. USA should understand that sovereignty loss during war cannot have legal continuity under occupiers or aggressors when the war ends. How would USA like for the Native Ameri-Indians to kick them back to Europe?

ARTICLE 2

Ooh Baby It’s a Wild World – by Daniel J. Flynn on 11.30.12 @ 6:08AM

It’s a jungle out there for transanimals.

The humans called Dennis Avner “Stalking Cat.” His kind referred to him as “meow.”

The cat-like Avner, who held the Guinness Book of World Records mark for body modifications — including a bifurcated lip, extensive tiger-stripe facial tattooing, surgically pointed ears, and silicone injections in the cheeks, chin, and forehead — died earlier this month.

The human authorities suspect he killed himself. I suspect humans, threatened that one of their own had defected to the cat community, killed him.

Human nature, alien to Stalking Cat, remains quite familiar with suicide. The dearth of documented cases of self-inflicted felicide raises suspicions. Only an Ace Ventura could definitively answer this whodunit. The one certainty here is that it’s a jungle out there for a person who realizes he, she, or it is an animal trapped in a human’s body.

Dennis Avner never found acceptance among mankind as a felid despite the plastic surgeries, the tattoos, and the silicone injections. He was, in a loose sense, a real-life Philip Nolan — a manimal without a species.

Biology is the new racism. The phobia against transanimals recalls the societal obstinacy regarding transgenders. We exiled them to the “third bathroom,” inscribed pesky reminders of their physiology on their driver’s licenses, and imprisoned them with criminals of the opposite gender. Some men still won’t consider dating a woman who was born a “man” — whatever that antiquated designation means. One surmises that Stalking Cat encountered similar prejudices among potential dating partners of all sexes and species.

Society’s rejection of transanimals results in their rejection of themselves. When a man splits his tongue, amputates his arms, and fuses his legs together to realize his inner serpent, society calls him crazy, a freak, and troubled — instead of what he is: a snake. We will become as sane as they are only when we finally see transanimals as they see themselves.

All this recalls the dark ages when we denied that one biologically born a male who surgically remade herself as female was as much a woman as your mother. Dennis Avner was as much a cat as Chastity Bono is a man.

Yet, many landlords won’t rent to transanimals. Their contracts stipulate “no pets.” Restaurants still post “no dogs allowed” signs. Public parks demand that you keep animals on a leash. Dennis Avner served in the Navy. But he did so in the form of a human being. The ban on transspecies soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines persists despite the obvious intimidation factor that a battalion of tiger-men would impose on the enemy.

What was Stalking Cat supposed to make of the many restrictions, formal and informal, that civilization imposed upon his wild spirit?

Transanimals face a gross double standard vis-à-vis transgenders. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services decrees that the Affordable Care Act forbids discrimination against transgendered patients within federally funded programs. U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf, a Reagan appointee, has ordered Massachusetts taxpayers to fund gender reassignment surgery for Michelle Kosilek, an inmate convicted of murdering his wife after she caught him in her clothes. Sixteen state governments find a compelling interest in forbidding employers from taking into account a man’s metamorphosis into a woman, or vice versa, when hiring and firing.

By what logic do these states, the federal judge, and HHS, which prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, then permit discrimination based on animal identity?

In fits of self-absolution, tormentors conveniently maintain that the extinction of Stalking Cat, along with a transgender suicide rate 25 times the general population’s, proves that self-mutilation begins a slow self-destruction that ends in one’s ultimate destruction. Society has dysphoria over sexual, and species, dysphoria. We lose some of our humanity when we don’t extend it to gharials, capybaras, and narwhals. Cats are people too.

Mourn Dennis Avner’s tragic demise. But celebrate the miracle of his longevity. While most house cats survive to about 15, Stalking Cat lived to 54. If you last that many years more, you will surely meet others of his kind.

The bodies of four people who had been shot to death were found face-down Sunday outside a suburban Southern California home that apparently served as an unlicensed boarding house, authorities said.

Los Angeles police were seeking a motive for the attacks at the house in Northridge, in the San Fernando Valley.

Lt. Terri Brinkmeyer said a 911 call led police to the large house around 4:30 a.m. Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the bodies of two men and two women were found face-down on a side yard of the property.

Investigators were questioning several people who were on the property at the time of the shooting, but no one has been detained or arrested.

Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander, who represents the area, said the house was split into several units for rent. He said at least a dozen people lived in the house, which contained several bedrooms, kitchenettes and mattresses on the floor.

“It appears from the nature of things that this was an unlicensed boarding facility,” Englander said from the crime scene. He noted that one bedroom was only accessible through a window.

The house was on street lined with houses, schools and places of worship.

“This is a very safe neighborhood. This type of thing doesn’t normally happen here,” Englander said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Places of worship is the keyword here perhaps. Fundo alert. Or religion contrived sense of entitlement that caused strife with possible secularists.

CHICAGO — The now familiar term “Asperger’s disorder” is being dropped. And abnormally bad and frequent temper tantrums will be given a scientific-sounding diagnosis called DMDD. But “dyslexia” and other learning disorders remain.

The revisions come in the first major rewrite in nearly 20 years of the diagnostic guide used by the nation’s psychiatrists. Changes were approved Saturday.

Full details of all the revisions will come next May when the American Psychiatric Association’s new diagnostic manual is published, but the impact will be huge, affecting millions of children and adults worldwide. The manual also is important for the insurance industry in deciding what treatment to pay for, and it helps schools decide how to allot special education.

This diagnostic guide “defines what constellations of symptoms” doctors recognize as mental disorders, said Dr. Mark Olfson, a Columbia University psychiatry professor. More important, he said, it “shapes who will receive what treatment. Even seemingly subtle changes to the criteria can have substantial effects on patterns of care.”

Olfson was not involved in the revision process. The changes were approved Saturday in suburban Washington, D.C., by the psychiatric association’s board of trustees.

The aim is not to expand the number of people diagnosed with mental illness, but to ensure that affected children and adults are more accurately diagnosed so they can get the most appropriate treatment, said Dr. David Kupfer. He chaired the task force in charge of revising the manual and is a psychiatry professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

One of the most hotly argued changes was how to define the various ranges of autism. Some advocates opposed the idea of dropping the specific diagnosis for Asperger’s disorder. People with that disorder often have high intelligence and vast knowledge on narrow subjects but lack social skills. Some who have the condition embrace their quirkiness and vow to continue to use the label.

And some Asperger’s families opposed any change, fearing their kids would lose a diagnosis and no longer be eligible for special services.

But the revision will not affect their education services, experts say.

The new manual adds the term “autism spectrum disorder,” which already is used by many experts in the field. Asperger’s disorder will be dropped and incorporated under that umbrella diagnosis. The new category will include kids with severe autism, who often don’t talk or interact, as well as those with milder forms.

Kelli Gibson of Battle Creek, Mich., who has four sons with various forms of autism, said Saturday she welcomes the change. Her boys all had different labels in the old diagnostic manual, including a 14-year-old with Asperger’s.

“To give it separate names never made sense to me,” Gibson said. “To me, my children all had autism.”

Three of her boys receive special education services in public school; the fourth is enrolled in a school for disabled children. The new autism diagnosis won’t affect those services, Gibson said. She also has a 3-year-old daughter without autism.

People with dyslexia also were closely watching for the new updated doctors’ guide. Many with the reading disorder did not want their diagnosis to be dropped. And it won’t be. Instead, the new manual will have a broader learning disorder category to cover several conditions including dyslexia, which causes difficulty understanding letters and recognizing written words.

The trustees on Saturday made the final decision on what proposals made the cut; recommendations came from experts in several work groups assigned to evaluate different mental illnesses.

The revised guidebook “represents a significant step forward for the field. It will improve our ability to accurately diagnose psychiatric disorders,” Dr. David Fassler, the group’s treasurer and a University of Vermont psychiatry professor, said after the vote.

The shorthand name for the new edition, the organization’s fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, is DSM-5. Group leaders said specifics won’t be disclosed until the manual is published but they confirmed some changes. A 2000 edition of the manual made minor changes but the last major edition was published in 1994.

Olfson said the manual “seeks to capture the current state of knowledge of psychiatric disorders. Since 2000 … there have been important advances in our understanding of the nature of psychiatric disorders.”

Catherine Lord, an autism expert at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York who was on the psychiatric group’s autism task force, said anyone who met criteria for Asperger’s in the old manual would be included in the new diagnosis.

One reason for the change is that some states and school systems don’t provide services for children and adults with Asperger’s, or provide fewer services than those given an autism diagnosis, she said.

Autism researcher Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for the advocacy group Autism Speaks, said small studies have suggested the new criteria will be effective. But she said it will be crucial to monitor so that children don’t lose services.

Other changes include:

—A new diagnosis for severe recurrent temper tantrums — disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. Critics say it will medicalize kids’ who have normal tantrums. Supporters say it will address concerns about too many kids being misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and treated with powerful psychiatric drugs. Bipolar disorder involves sharp mood swings and affected children are sometimes very irritable or have explosive tantrums.

—Eliminating the term “gender identity disorder.” It has been used for children or adults who strongly believe that they were born the wrong gender. But many activists believe the condition isn’t a disorder and say calling it one is stigmatizing. The term would be replaced with “gender dysphoria,” which means emotional distress over one’s gender. Supporters equated the change with removing homosexuality as a mental illness in the diagnostic manual, which happened decades ago.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

People are weird and different. The Victorian Era destroyed LGBT and butchered half the world’s indigenous cultures, many of which were LGBT friendly. The Victorian Era also propagated Christianity, which subsumed and destroyed many native faiths as well as subverted many world citizens into colonial mindsets that still persist this day. The English were expelled from the USA, sadly the Christian faith still is afflicting many populations worldwide. The English incidentally were the Angles, a group of GERMANIC outcasts that murdered the Celtic and Nordic cultures of the Isles, occupied thier lands, and butchered all the way through Africa, India and later China destroying lives, cultures and native religions for mere ‘paganism’ (those who didn’t want to belive in ‘god’ were heathens and ‘soulless’ needed to be murdered in those days . . . no end.

Onion editor: Tricking China has a “certain delightfulness”
A Chinese news site takes an Onion satire for a real story
The Onion declares North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “sexiest man alive”
People’s Daily Online runs portions of the Onion story and 55 photos of Kim

(CNN) — China, as one Twitter user wrote Tuesday, has been fooled by the “mysterious Western art of satire.”

The merciless comedy website The Onion has declared North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the “sexiest man alive for 2012.” And it appears China’s People’s Daily Online has taken the story seriously.

The Chinese story reprinted satirical comments describing Kim’s “air of power that masks an unmistakable cute, cuddly side,” his “impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle, and,” the story says, “that famous smile.”
A Chinese state-run site was fooled Tuesday by a satirical story that declared North Korea\’s Kim Jong Un the \
A Chinese state-run site was fooled Tuesday by a satirical story that declared North Korea’s Kim Jong Un the “sexiest man alive.”

The story on People’s Daily Online on Tuesday illustrates the mutual backscratching that China and North Korea exercise through their government-run media. The incident also shows foreign media outlets’ difficulty in navigating The Onion’s brand of satire.

The Chinese website had underscored its story by including its own 55-page photo gallery to accompany the text, which was published in both English and Chinese. But the pages and the images were no longer available Wednesday.

A woman responding to a call Wednesday to the office of the website said it was “impossible that the People’s Daily will quote from any unreliable media — we do verify our news and sources.”

The woman, who declined to identify herself, noted that the item had been removed.

The People’s Daily Online has a separate office from the print version of the Chinese Communist Party’s main newspaper.

Tracy said he’s not surprised when legitimate news sites fall for his high-level tomfoolery, but this was the first time The Onion had named a “sexiest man alive.” “We knew it would get a response,” he said “but we didn’t expect it would get life from abroad.”

A satirical post on The Onion congratulated the People’s Daily for its coverage.

The site “has served as one of the Onion’s Far East bureaus for quite some time, and I believe their reportage as of late has been uncommonly fine, as well as politically astute,” said The Onion’s Grant Jones in a e-mail statement. “May our felicitous business association continue for centuries to come.”

Yes. Again. If this scenario sounds familiar it’s because The Onion is no stranger to fooling government-run news outlets.

In September, an Onion satire fooled Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency. Fars published an Onion story claiming that a Gallup poll found that rural white Americans preferred Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over President Barack Obama.

On the Chinese microblog Sina Weibo, netizens made their own teasing comments about People’s Daily.

“Foolish foreigners, the party paper was born to be funny,” wrote @sheldon-BaiBai.

“The world was fooled by the People’s Daily, because no Chinese believes this paper,” wrote @Hai_Dao_Wu_Bian.

The Onion never writes its stories with the intention of fooling government agencies, Tracy said. But “it’s great when it happens. We hope it happens more often.”

This prank, he said with obvious glee, may turn out to be the legendary Onion fake story that veterans will talk about for years to come. “We essentially just fooled the government of China.”

CNN’s Jethro Mullen and CY Xu contributed to this report.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Remember the boy who cried wolf? And if this is intended to harrass the foreign media, The Onion is just inviting the Chinese to do the same to foreign media portals. If this becomes rampant, then news on the internet will become rubbish or manipulative unreadable agenda laden nonsesne, and the MSM papers which will still remain propaganda, become more influencial and manipulative of the citizens locally until the dark pre-info-ages take hold again through sheer contrivedness and agenda loaded inaccuracy of articles. The Onion is opening a can of worms that could down all online media or online media accuracy if not careful . . . If the CNN, BBC and Peoples Daily or whatever online media do not remain strictly accurate in reporting, above the fray of b.s., the world will be poorer for the lack of ethics for preference of manipulation to bad ends.

Sometimes a highly individualistic name for a baby is not good news for a kid, says Dean Obeidallah

Dean Obeidallah: A new list of popular 2012 baby names includes Siri, Mac, Luna
He says it’s not just celebrities with offbeat baby-naming now; it’s spreading to the rest of us
He says studies show distinctive names can spur teasing and mistreatment
Obeidallah: Parents, think twice on names; it could have long-term effect on your child

Editor’s note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is a political comedian and frequent commentator on various TV networks including CNN. He is the editor of the politics blog “The Dean’s Report” and co-director of the upcoming documentary “The Muslims Are Coming!” Follow him on Twitter: @deanofcomedy

(CNN) — Siri, Mars, Mac and Luna. I’m not talking Apple products or planetary terms. These are baby names. And not just any baby names but ones that have jumped in popularity in 2012, according to Baby Center.com’s just released list.

Baby Siri? Seriously, who would name their bundle of joy after a frustrating Apple product that hardly ever works? And speaking of Apple (see daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin,) that name moved up a whopping 585 places on the list of names for girls born in 2012. So there could conceivably be a family out there with a daughter named Apple and a son named Siri. (Hope that entitles the family to a discount on an iMac.)

There was a time when bizarre baby naming was something only celebrities did to their kids (as if being the child of a celebrity wasn’t challenging enough). There’s Beyonce and Jay Z’s Blue Ivy, Penn Jillette’s son, Moxie Crimefighter, Bono’s daughter Memphis Eve, actor Jason Lee’s son Pilot Inspektor, and the list goes on and on.

But now this “condition” is apparently spreading to the rest of us. In addition to the offbeat names above, 2011 saw babies sporting such names as: Moo, Draper, Graceland and Tequila.

There are even media reports that this past weekend some parents allegedly named their newborn daughter, Hashtag. That one may turn out to be an Internet hoax, but after last year’s story of a child in Egypt being named Facebook (in praise of the role Facebook played in the Egyptian revolution), we can’t be too far from babies named Retweet and Spam Blocker anyway. It truly is only a matter of time until you meet a kid named DVR or Playstation 3.
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Apparently some parents believe that giving their child a jaw-dropping name will make him or her more distinctive. News flash: it’s not the name that makes your child stand out, it’s his or her achievements.

While I don’t want to rain on creativity, let’s be honest — these weird names are more about parents showing off their “cleverness” than about finding a name that fits the child. It’s not like the parents got to know the child first for a few months and then said, “You know this baby really is a little Siri.”
Beyonce, Jay-Z welcome baby Blue Ivy
Jolie: We are all Malala

And do these parents even consider that a baby’s name can cause consequences for the child that the parents never imagined, and in many areas of the child’s life? When I reflect upon my own name, I realize that my life could have been far different if my parents had followed their initial instincts when naming me.

My Palestinian father wanted to name me Saladin after the famous Muslim leader, while my Sicilian mother wanted to name me Dino. Instead they compromised on Dean.

Growing up in North Jersey, Dean was not a common name. But it actually made me feel different in a good way being the only Dean in my class. And even today in looking at the list of baby names for 2012, I was actually happy that Dean was not in the top 100.

Still, the truth is, if I’d been named Dino, I would have certainly been viewed as more ethnic by teachers, potential employers and co-workers. I would have been required to continually overcome cultural stereotypes.

And if I’d been named the very Arabic Saladin Obeidallah, you could just imagine all the “fun” I would have had in post-9/11 America. I would have likely volunteered for “random” security checks at the airport to make it easier for all involved or simply got used to taking the bus cross country.

But there’s a difference between a name that isn’t overly common and naming your child after your favorite appliance. A name is a big part of a kid’s identity. It can trigger impressions about a child even before we meet him or her — a particular problem among the closed-minded of the world, but this is the world your child will have to navigate.

For example, studies have found that children with names that linguistically sound like they come from a lower socioeconomic status are less likely to be recommended by school officials for gifted classes and actually more likely to be labeled as learning disabled.

Other research has revealed that boys with feminine sounding names — such as Shannon or Ashley — have had more disciplinary problems in school because of their response to teasing. Still other studies have found a link between how much people like their own names and their level of self-esteem.

So, parents, keep in mind that your choice of name will have a lasting impact on your child — both for good and bad. And if you insist on picking a bizarre name for the baby, then I propose that your child be empowered to rename you with any name he or she chooses. At least then it’s fair that a child named Hashtag has parents named Angry Birds and YouTube.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

In the past there were in some cultures NAMING CEREMONIES AT ADULTHOOD. The child would choose a name LATER, and all children knew their names when young were TEMPORARY and that parents chose those names. Sometimes what the child did that was most unique would also decide what that child was RENAMED at adulthood. So ‘Hashtag’ away and legalise/normalise name changing at the age of 21. Knowing that names are temporary and chosen by parents, kids would not be affected by teasing because they knew they were going to change that name, or the teasers would not bother to tease knowing the name would also change by then.

Shocked complainant said she would never walk her dog in Oropi Park, New Zealand, again
Andrew Pointon, 47, was charged with offensive behaviour for his naked runs
But appeal judge agrees that naked body by itself is not offensive

The right to go jogging in the nude has been upheld by the High Court in New Zealand.

Andrew Lyall Pointon, 47, was wearing only a pair of shoes when he was spotted by a woman while running at 8.30am in a forest near Tauranga in August last year.

She called police and he was arrested during another nude run.

Pointon was charged with offensive behaviour and found guilty in Tauranga District Court last December.

An appeal was thrown out in June, but a second appeal has just been upheld by Justice Paul Heath in the High Court at Tauranga.

‘If it was [offensive] then God wouldn’t have given us genitals,’ Mr Pointon told The Dominion Post.

‘It is a win for all libertarians and a setback for all conservatives in the country.’

The judge, Justice Heath, compared the situation to passing ‘gang members’ walking through the park.

He said: ‘It would not be surprising for a person in the position of the complainant to be concerned and discomforted by their presence, and even to feel threatened.

‘However, on any view, their behaviour would not be regarded as offensive behaviour.

‘Should the sight of a naked man, in the circumstances in which the complainant found herself, be treated any differently? I think not.’

He added that he felt Pointon was ‘a genuine naturist’ who had taken measures to avoid disturbing others – such as choosing a time when children would be unlikely to be on the track.

But Family First spokesman Bob McCoskrie said he was disappointed and said Justice Heath’s decision shows ‘double standards’.

He asked: ‘Is it okay for someone to streak through his courtroom? He’d be the first one to put them in the cells.’
Picturesque: The jogger was spotted close to Tauranga harbour in New Zealand

Picturesque: The jogger was spotted close to Tauranga harbour in New Zealand

Naturist Mr Pointon said he enjoyed the freedom of not wearing clothes and began running naked about 18 months ago.

The complainant, who was out walking her dog when she spotted Pointon, said she was so offended that she did not wish to ever return to the Oropi Bike Park.

But Pointon lashed out at the woman who complained.

He said: ‘It’s just ludicrous. Has this person got nothing better to do than wasting everyone’s time?

‘All she saw was a naked man running through the bush. It was just a fleeting moment, which has cost us all.

‘It just shows that it was a stupid decision by police to go ahead … and charge me for something totally irrelevant.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Perhaps a nudist’s track to keep the 2 different groups seperate.

ARTICLE 7

A Good Example of Forms and Blogospheres Littered with NLPs : 2012, I am tired – Topic started on 9-12-2012 @ 02:48 AM by TheAlmo – reply posted on 9-12-2012 @ 03:00 AM by xxshadowfaxx

I just want the date to come. Lots of mystery surround it, lots of theories, but no one knows a damn thing.

If anything is going to happen, its going to be something we haven’t seen before. Something the ancients tracked 25000 years ago. No one alive today can possibly know what it is. We don’t even know for sure if we have the right date. All the math is very precise and it seems that dec 21 is certainly a good possibility, but we may be off by hundreds of years. All we can do is wait and see.

Soon you won’t have to worry about it anymore because it is only 12 days away now. Whatever happens, happens, theres nothing anyone can do about it.

Also, its definitely possible to be love. Love is a state of being, and beneath all your problems, all your thoughts, is a state of love. When you can learn to silence the mind, and learn how to move energy through your chakras, you will find yourself in a state of love. It is beautiful to experience. All the people that talk about are trying to tell you something, and most of us ignore it completely. But the answers to all questions truely do lie within us. Once you be love, once you attain that state, you are given knowledge about who you are, what you are, and what your purpose is. You will experience the divine.

Commentator Response

I am tired you guys. Enough. This is insane.

The amount of 2012 topics on ATS and everywhere is staggering. It seems everyone takes a shot at it. Everyone. You guys turned the year 2012 into a prostitute year that everyone can buy and f*** for a while.

The problem is that I go through phases. Sometimes, I just really don’t pay attention at all and I don’t even try to rationalize or criticize the material I am exposed to. Other times, I find myself so angry about it and digging deep to find every logical fallacy there is. You know why this happens to me? Because:

1- My mood changes from time to time
2- The 2012 shower is an everlasting one that never ever stops.

What do you mean if I don’t “embrace” the change I won’t feel anything and December 21 will be just another day?

Can this lunacy get anymore vile and degrading to our intellect? I am sorry, but even the most spiritual practices can be “practicalized” if you know what I mean. You can ask me to actively stop thinking about people that I hate or that I even hate them. I can do that. But what do you mean when you say “Be Love”? How can someone be love? Can you be Batman? A sandwich? I don’t know. Be love? Embrace change? This all reminds me of an incident when I was a kid walking by a public swimming pool and a guy was teaching his 6-ish years old son to swim by saying: maintain your balance… don’t drown.

Yeah… the best thing to say to tell someone who’s drowning: yell at them: don’t drown. dude, not cool, you’re gonna die, maintain your balance. work physics to make it happen.

I am tired of this nonsensical spiritual masturbation.

What about doom and gloom?

Are you gonna tell me where to go? What to do? Or just scream around and run all over the place like a fuc*** moron? What? No place to go? Nothing to do? Where is the warning then? It’s not like you’re gonna say “told you so” later.

I am tired of this. It’s too much. It’s everywhere. Everywhere I go.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Thats the problem with the people. The laws written cause this, so vote for a candidate not of the 1% (plutocrat or political nepotist) or run as candidate yourself if there is no such candidate. Write and ratify laws to distribute national wealth and unused national land (the country belongs to all citizens so why should a handful of GLC cronies get everything, even the land and wealth from natural resources belong to the people and must be shared to reserved for a handful of politicians who can be easily identified if mega-wealthy), and end the raison d’etre for NLP articles. This way there will be enough harmony so that the world need not end, or if the world ends, everyone was happy anyway.

ARTICLE 8

How The Cost of a Degree is Now £100,000 – Posted on December 9, 2012 by Zen-Haven – Author: Paul Gallagher

The true cost of a university degree will rocket to up to £100,000 for today’s students, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

Thousands of people currently studying at university will end up paying that amount over their career because of interest charges and other fees – several times the £27,000 or £36,000 in fees that most three- and four-year courses charge.

The landmark figure, revealed in the Government’s own documents, is far higher than the £70,000 in repayments that it was previously thought students would end up paying over their lifetimes. The Government figures confirm that graduates who find well-paid jobs – in finance and law, for example – will be able to save tens of thousands of pounds by paying off their loans more quickly than the vast majority of their counterparts on middle incomes.

Even before they started in September, every student was hit with a hidden charge: for repayment purposes, the total cost of tuition is backdated to day one, meaning that the majority of the 300,000 three-year students and 117,000 four-year students currently studying will graduate with an extra £3,300 or £5,000 bill respectively, according to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) website. Many students will repay up to four times the cost of their tuition during the 30 years following graduation, after which any remaining debt is written off.

Add in other living costs and average student debt is now predicted to hit £53,000 by graduation. Accountants say billions of pounds of student debt will never be repaid, leaving “a massive tax time bomb” for generations to come.

Based on the Government’s figures, almost 300,000 students – 70 per cent of those studying – who started university in the autumn will repay between £65,000 and £85,000, while those in the highest income bracket pay back less because they will start to pay off their debts sooner. About 10 per cent who are in the “squeezed middle” could end up paying back between £85,000 and £100,000. The 20 per cent of graduates with the lowest lifetime earnings (a group dominated by women) will never come close to repaying their fees and the debt will be written off after 30 years.

The Government’s own projections lay out details of what students and graduates would owe at the start of each year in interest and repayment charges. What graduates pay back each month depends on their earnings: 9 per cent of income above £21,000 a year, independent of both the interest rate and the size of the loan. The amount due increases with time because interest is added. A 28-year-old male beginning a three-year course and whose starting salary of £21,000 quickly rises to £60,000 in year four, and is a six-figure salary by year 15, will settle his bill in 13 years, repaying just over £42,000. A woman who earns less than a third of that in her lifetime and who begins work a few years after graduating repays almost £62,000 over 28 years. A woman in her twenties who earns less than £1m in her career and takes time out to have a family will pay back less than £20,000, leaving an unpaid debt of almost £60,000. Scottish students in Scotland have their fees paid, while students in Northern Ireland pay a maximum £3,575 a year tuition.

Peter West, financial director at Portal, a computer company in Bracknell, Berkshire, said: “No one is aware of the long-term implications of this accounting wheeze. Higher education reform is a victimless crime and a massive tax time bomb. The Government has simply shifted all the debt off the accounting sheet for now – but, my God, will it come back and hit us in 30 years’ time.”

Susan Cooper, professor of experimental physics from the University of Oxford, said: “If the £21,000 repayment threshold doesn’t increase with inflation, the requirement for repayment can become much more onerous over the 30-year period. And maybe the 30 years could be increased as well. The higher the costs, the more the Government has to write off 30 years later. One could have wished for a more thorough thinking through of the consequences before being launched into this experiment.”

The University and College Union general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “The Government rushed through higher fees without properly considering the financial consequences. We warned at the time that fees close to £9,000 a year would be the norm and that the calculations for repayment by graduates were flawed.”

A spokesperson for BIS said: “Extending the write-off period to 30 years was fully costed as part of the whole repayment system. The new system helps reduce the deficit, is affordable and sustainable for the Government, while offering protection for those who may not go on to high-paid employment.”

Chuka Umunna, Labour business spokesman, said: “Students will never forgive this government for hiking up the costs of going to university. This figures show that, as ever, it is middle- and lower-income families who are being hit hardest.”

The NUS president, Liam Burns, added: “It is shocking that politicians treat the potential of a generation before they have even started their working career with such nonchalance.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The problem is that the establishment (or NWO) has already decided which people friendly to the regime of the day will get the top jobs that can actually influence policy or social culture. So even before enrollment or payment, those who are not on the same wavelength of the Education-STUDENT-DEBT-Financiar Complex (nominlly fused with the dominant religious institutions of the region – if these are not insane or hated or indulging in pedophilia) had better not even bother with ‘Education’ and instead learn how to vote and educate others on how to vote. The system is stacked EVEN at education level and hardly neutral. Identify this and act accordingly by refusing to spend anything on education. Free spirits beware, the mob mentality of society comprised with useless eaters only enriches the 1% term limitless plutocrats and political nepotists.

ARTICLE 9

Celebration of the Nudists of the 2010s : Ai Weiwei investigated over nude art – Chinese artist says he is under investigation for spreading pornography, after pictures including One Tiger Eight Breasts

Ai Weiwei is under investigation for spreading pornography, the Chinese artist has said, as the authorities turned their attention from political subversion and tax evasion to online images of nudity.

He said police had questioned his cameraman Zhao Zhao on Thursday over pictures Zhao had taken of the artist. “They clearly told him this is an investigation, now, they are doing on me, on pornography,” Ai told the AFP news agency.

One of the pictures, One Tiger Eight Breasts, shows Ai posing nude on a wooden chair flanked by four naked women who are giggling and smiling.

“Netizens came to take photos with me, so we said why don’t we take nudity photos, then everybody agreed so we did it and they were put on the internet, and that’s it, we forget about it,” Ai said.

This year Ai has been held for 81 days in a secret location, questioned about subversion and then accused of tax evasion and given a fine of 15m yuan. Several of his assistants have been detained for lengthy periods and interrogated about Ai’s political beliefs, business and personal life.

His lawyers say the investigations are politically motivated to silence Ai, who has used his high profile to speak out on police brutality, official corruption and human rights violations.

Police have been reluctant to discuss his case and there has been little or no coverage in most domestic media outlets. But the Communist party newspaper Global Times said on Wednesday that dissidents such as Ai could only exist because of the support of the west.

“For 30 years Ai Weiweis have emerged and fallen. But China has kept rising despite their pessimistic predictions. The real social trend is that they will be eliminated in the rising process of China,” said a comment article in the paper.

Ai has attempted to turn the tables by mounting an internet campaign against his accusers. He says 30,000 people contributed a total of more than 8m yuan to his online appeal for loans to challenge his tax fine.

A pornography or obscenity charge based on the pictures revealed so far is likely to incur ridicule and anger among Ai’s supporters. Many Chinese contemporary artists have appeared naked in their work.

Ai said police had previously questioned him about the images, but he doubted they understood art. “If they see nudity as pornography, then China is still in the Qing dynasty,” he told Associated Press.

Ai Weiwei with EVEN MORE nudists. The CPCC and PLA need not fear this wall of human flesh led by a scruffy semi-geezer, fear is in the mind China!

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This is not for everyone BUT, this is an acid test of human rights and civil society. Hey frumpOs, if you had the aesthetic, you’d be as sex positive and body confident enough to use nakeness and beauty as weapons to shame the ugliness of society and the establishment instead of attacking nudism and snarking on morality. So stop victimising naked persons, that counts for MALE body parts too . . . so about a decade ago there was this activist who really didn’t know why until now . . . WHOS STILL WRITING TO END APARTHEID . . . Nudism is COURAGE and PETA is not exactly at the level of anti-apartheid activity.

PETA Nudists.

Perhaps Nelson Mandela should visit Ai Weiwei and learn something missed, though this does not make for mainstream just yet but we early birds are the most well loved birds, so see Israeli women have taken a nude group photo to express solidarity with Aliaa Magda Elmahdy . . . and look at non-Muslims getting arrested for Khalwat in Muslim countries. Monyet dan Anjing! Hunga bunga! Bulaklak!

Ladies, if you’re a Lursa or a B’etor everyone will understand why the preference to stay covered is there, BUT no understanding will be offered to those who hate on all of the above people who dare to be nudist or go nude for their cause. Same to the narrow gents. What’s YOUR cause Frumpos? Snarking at people who try to change the world? Who try to end apartheid? Who challenge status quo?

Nudists Nuns in Russia marching against Putin’s 3rd term??? . . .

The more ‘faithful’ they are the more brittle the faith . . . hence the term ‘cracker’ . . . so go hide your daughters and get out your shotguns. (this is intended to remind those without 2nd amendment rights to know how good hillbillies live in the USA, no other reason . . . ). Aight back to surfing porn and drinking horse, pork and beef flavoured beer . . .

Nudists in Paris.

Israeli Nudists for St.Alia.

Pussy Riot – Russia.

Nudist Zones in China (at least zones exist . . .)

This is not a nudist gathering but rather an English advert.

So the next time someone is dressed like this, just keep that mouth shut. Bikini’s are skimpier and even if out of context, nudism is not even sexual activity per se. The clothes on this woman are actually kinda wholesome, even with the neons . . .

mini-ARTICLE 9.5

Woman Has Baby At Upstate New York Zoo : There was no time to get the expectant mother to hospital after she suddenly went into labour on Friday. – 8:33pm UK, Saturday 08 December 2012 – Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York

A New York state zoo has had a surprise visit – from the stork.

A woman went into labour on Friday and gave birth on a path at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse.

The 21-year-old woman, who was visiting the zoo with a group, had a baby girl with help from keepers not far from the bear exhibit.

Zoo worker Liz Schmidt told The Post-Standard that she heard about the situation and rushed to find the woman already pushing out the baby.

“I honestly didn’t expect her to deliver at the zoo,” Ms Schmidt said. “I thought we’d pop her in a wheelchair and she’d be good to go to the hospital.”

Other workers arrived with blankets to keep the mother and baby warm, and the zoo’s elephant expert herded away curious visitors.

An ambulance soon arrived to take the newborn to a hospital. A hospital representative declined to discuss the mother or baby’s medical conditions for privacy reasons.

Zoo Director Ted Fox said the attraction plans to send a gift to the family.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Nice . . . so Penang gets another beast among their ranks what was being snatched? Zoo animals conceiving? Now we understand why cheaters never prosper and why (some) Asians REALLY do not have Human Souls. That which is not one’s may never belong by theft or strength in numbers, more so on the spiritual level. How about another invasion of the 3rd world before the pariahs get too strong. Those who play by the rules need not worry, by now most of the ‘invaders’ should be able to identify the whos who among pariahs and among the rich and politically connected are plenty of pariahs.

Dmitry Medvedev has been caught making some unusual comments off-air after failing to realise television cameras were still rolling.

The Russian prime minister let his guard down after an interview with five Russian television stations – offering his strange views on Father Christmas and aliens as well as taking a pot shot at President Vladimir Putin and the federal police.

“I believe in Father Frost. But not too deeply. But anyway, you know, I’m not one of those people who are able to tell the kids that Father Frost does not exist,” he said in a jovial reply to a question about Russia’s equivalent of Santa Claus.

He went on to take a jab at Mr Putin for his frequent lateness for meetings after he was more than hour late for an event in southern Russia.

“Colleagues, somebody should be extremely punctual, while somebody else is exhausting all the limits for being late,” he said.

The comments invited a satirical reaction on the Internet which is unlikely to help Mr Medvedev, whose power has been ebbing since Mr Putin took over as president.
RUSSIA-GOVERNMENT-POLITICS-MEDVEDEV The prime minister speaking to the TV stations that caught him off-air

In the interview itself, Mr Medvedev underlined his allegiance to the president in a likely bid to dismiss rumours he is about to be fired.

In an unexpected move, the liberal-leaning prime minister defended Kremlin-backed laws which critics say will be used to stifle dissent.

But in the off-air comments, he was more frank.

When a journalist complained about federal investigators arriving to search the home of a witness in an inquiry early in the morning, Mr Medvedev said: “They are just jerks, so they come at eight in the morning.

“It’s just their set of habits. I know many people who work in the police. They think if they come at seven in the morning they will get everything in the world.”

Another of the journalists asked whether the president is handed secret files on aliens when he receives the briefcase needed to activate Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

“Along with the briefcase with nuclear codes, the president of the country is given a special ‘top secret’ folder. This folder in its entirety contains information about aliens who visited our planet,” Mr Medvedev answered playfully.

“Along with this, you are given a report of the absolutely secret special service that exercises control over aliens on the territory of our country…

“More detailed information on this topic you can get from a well-known movie called Men In Black… I will not tell you how many of them are among us because it may cause panic,” he said.

None of the television stations that interviewed Medvedev broadcast the off-air comments.

Russians mocked the prime minister on the internet.

“It’s sad when the former president and current prime minister of your country is simply a pathetic person,” Yekaterina Kudinova wrote on Twitter.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Not strange at all but with the kind of Russian subtlty that bore Russia a Marx. Medvedev has a OCCULT (or Techno advanced derived) CONSCIENCE which could be tranlated into OCCULT (or Techno advanced derived) ETHICS which can translate into (or Techno advanced derived) MORALLY AFFLUENT LAWS. This is my strange response to Medvedev’s strange off air comments. Expositions on methodology will lead to spiritual cleanliness and less hive mindedness and less mob mindedness, these many headed “non-individuals” Medvedev is referring to are the true criminals of Humanity that need to have the worst happen to them.

A one-on-one between exes is not the same as mass parasitisation, and we all know where spiritual parasites are going, those who do not produce and only take, as “Useless Eaters” are bound for the Auswictzs’ of the future (and past). In other words, do your own work or (spiritual homework) and choose your fights carefully and with respect, millions of spirits will be seeking their payment for their untimely deaths and that will be the ‘hell’ everyone keeps talking about . . . vote Medevedev for the next Sec. Gen. of the UN and we might see a better world if Medevedev applies entirely such principles within the SPIRITUAL update of the UN Human Rights Charter. Here’s one for the morally affluent non-cops and non-parasites . . . lets shine a light on all degenerates who won’t even think for themselves . . .

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — No government agency is taking action to remove the decaying carcass of a whale on a California beach, making it appear the job will be left to Mother Nature.

The corpse of the huge fin whale created a spectacle on Friday as people wandered down the narrow Malibu beach to look at the remains — white bones, rolls of blubber and the tail flukes trailing along the water’s edge.

The homes of movie stars, celebrities and others line the cliffs high above the slender beach.

Looking over the whale, Malibu resident Ben Dossett suggested there was now no need to try to remove it.

“You look at the difference between what it was on Tuesday to what it is today. I think they can just leave it and let nature take its course,” he said.

The smell had largely faded away, but still attached to the shoes of those who came near. Some people took pictures, a boy poked the bones and dogs sniffed it.

“It’s really sad that this is my first time seeing a whale,” said Ingrid De La O, a Malibu resident. “It’s mind-boggling to see this immense huge thing that lives in the water.”

The 40-foot-long, 40,000-pound juvenile male washed ashore Monday near Point Dume, which marks the western end of Santa Monica Bay, about 30 miles west of downtown Los Angeles.

“From the evidence that we have so far, it appears that it was hit by a ship,” said Jonsie Ross, marine mammal coordinator for the California Wildlife Center.

James Respondek, a real estate agent who lives in the area, worried that the carcass would draw sharks that could pose a threat to his young daughter, who swims in the cove, and to his favorite surfing spot down the beach. He said he was frustrated that no agency would remove the carcass.

“There seems to be no readiness to take responsibility, to take action, just a lot of excuses. ‘I don’t have a boat, I don’t have the money, I don’t have the resources,’ they all told me,” he said.

Fin whales are endangered, and about 2,300 live along the West Coast. They’re the second-largest species of whale after blue whales and can grow up to 85 feet, weigh up to 80 tons and live to be 90 years old.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Austerity leads to political caution? Cost saving and avoiding use of crony contractors (in this case whale cleaning crews companies which the government cleverly decided not to pay with taxpayer funds by, or where the links were so obvious they did not want to expose their political flank for) is good for the taxpayers and respect of tax fund access, and who knows a clever reference to Kim Schmidt that MSM should play on . . . the cleanup might cost a few thousand which could go to the starving or homeless, instead of a crony company. The local bars could take a look at the below article btw, a potential money making and indirect clean up courtesy of the local oceanside bars, though killings of mostly endangered whales intentionally by ship owners should be very carefully watched for . . .

Owen Roberts was an Oxford graduate, a man of dazzling intellect and gentle wit, who met Ann when they were both young broadcast journalists

Ann Clwyd had presumed that when her husband was admitted to a flagship teaching hospital, the staff charged with caring for him would do just that. It was not an outrageous assumption.

She did not imagine that he would die ‘like a battery hen’, squashed against the bars of his bed.

She did not anticipate that he would deteriorate catastrophically because, she feels, those entrusted to look after him were guilty of ‘indifference, contempt and callousness’.

She had expected that her gentle and genial husband, Owen Roberts, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, would be accorded care and kindness.

Instead, six weeks ago, he died, aged 73, of pneumonia he had contracted while at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, as she sat helpless at his side.

This week, Ann, 75, the Labour MP for Cynon Valley, and a redoubtable campaigner for the rights of the oppressed, steeled herself to make her private grief public.

She did so not for political aggrandisement but to try to spare others similar suffering.

Ann spoke out shortly after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt admitted that poor standards of care are one of the biggest problems facing the NHS; that in the worst cases, hospital staff are overseeing ‘a kind of normalisation of cruelty’.

And she wept in the House of Commons this week when she asked the Prime Minister what he intended to do about nurses who fail to show compassion for their patients.

When I met her in her parliamentary office later, she was composed and softly-spoken. Occasionally her eyes blurred with tears, but aside from grief, the emotion that overwhelms her is a quiet, simmering fury.

‘I felt it in the hospital,’ she says. ‘I can’t really remember what happened immediately after Owen died — it’s a blur — but I do remember my anger. Owen did not die from MS. He died from hospital-acquired pneumonia, and from lack of care and attention.

‘I’m still angry, and the anger gets fiercer. I think at one point I felt I’d like to burn down the hospital.

‘I know that people meet in rooms and discuss things and promise it will never happen again. But you know very well that it does. Again and again.

‘Owen was a tall man, 6ft 2in, and he died cramped and squashed against the bars of his bed like a battery hen. He had an oxygen mask that didn’t fit properly and cut into his chin. When I asked for a better fitting one, they said, “Oh, we don’t think so”.

Almost every request I made was ignored or dismissed. His lips were very dry and I couldn’t understand why nobody was moistening them. I used my own lip salve on them.

‘I saw a nurse in the corridor and asked her why my husband wasn’t in intensive care. She just said, “There are lots worse than him”, and walked on.

‘Previously, I had asked another nurse if a doctor had seen him that day, and she said: “No, but we know what to do.”

To me, that meant “We’ll do nothing”. It was almost as if someone, somewhere, had decided they weren’t going to do anything more for Owen, although he was obviously very ill.
Six weeks ago, Owen Roberts died, aged 73, of pneumonia he had contracted while at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, pictured

Six weeks ago, Owen Roberts died, aged 73, of pneumonia he had contracted while at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, pictured

‘He was very cold, because a patient in the next bed had a fan that was blowing cold air over him and Owen had only thin cotton blankets on his bed.

‘There was no one observing him. You ask yourself: “Where is everyone? Where are the nurses? Why is no one doing anything?”

‘You kick yourself that you didn’t stand in the corridor and scream, but when you’re an MP, you’re concerned about throwing your weight around. And you think, “I’m in a specialist hospital, with people who’ve been professionally trained” — and you assume they know what they’re doing.

‘But a basic element of good care was missing: compassion.

‘Owen lived with great dignity and fortitude, but when he died, he was treated with contempt. And I believe the fact that the nurses and doctors failed in their duty of care contributed to his death.’

Owen Roberts was an Oxford graduate, a man of dazzling intellect and gentle wit, who met Ann when they were both young broadcast journalists. He went on to become a distinguished director and producer on Welsh television.

They had no children and Ann entered politics — and became MP for her Welsh constituency in 1984. She later became Tony Blair’s special envoy on human rights in Iraq.

When Owen died in October, they had been married for 49 years.
Ann Clwyd was the UK special envoy for Human Rights in Iraq from 2003 to 2010. She is pictured during a visit to the Welsh Guards in Iraq

For 30 years he had suffered from MS, but had borne adversity with courage. Two years ago, in 2010, he fractured his leg in a fall and had a partial hip replacement, which left him confined to a wheelchair. But he lived at home in South Wales with Ann, who combined her parliamentary duties with looking after him.

He was ‘spirited, aware and intellectually curious’ and had enjoyed a visit from an old friend, an Oxford professor, just days before he collapsed on October 10 and was taken to hospital by ambulance.

At the hospital, Owen was allocated a bed in an open area of the A&E department, near the nurses’ station. Ann was told he would be kept in for observation, but she did not want to leave him until she had established that he would be sent to a ward.

She recalls: ‘Every time I tried to talk to one of the nurses, they were either on the phone or talking to one another. I know they were busy, but it did not explain how they could completely ignore a patient.

‘Whenever I asked when we’d see someone, the answer was always: “In a minute.” There was busy-ness, laughter, joking?…?but nobody addressed our concerns.

‘A doctor arrived with a tick list. He was brusque, arrogant and rude — he didn’t even introduce himself. When I asked, “What’s your name?”, he looked at me as if I’d said something impertinent. After he’d asked his questions, he just went off.

‘All this time, I hadn’t been offered a chair or a word of explanation. I’d expected at least some reassurance. But it was as if the nurses were in their little world. There was a feeling of total isolation’

Faced with this, Ann sent a text message to her PA, begging her to ask for help on her behalf.

Two-and-a-half hours later, a doctor arrived and assured her that Owen would be sent to a respiratory ward. Ann duly went home — but 24 hours later, her husband was still in A&E.

Meanwhile, Ann became ill herself, with a chest infection, and was unable to visit her husband — who’d now, finally, been transferred to a ward — for fear of infecting him and other patients.

Instead, friends and family popped in every day and she sought reports on his condition by phone. Often, she was thwarted. ‘I’d be told his nurse wasn’t there, or was on a tea break. I asked to speak to him on the phone, but they told me it was a facility they didn’t offer.’
The MP wept in the House of Commons this week when she asked the Prime Minister what he intended to do about nurses who fail to show compassion for their patients

The MP wept in the House of Commons this week when she asked the Prime Minister what he intended to do about nurses who fail to show compassion for their patients

Owen was diagnosed with sleep apnoea, a treatable disorder characterised by abnormal pauses in breathing during sleep. He was, Ann was told, to be given a mask to wear at night to help regularise his breathing. It never materialised.

However, she spoke on the phone to a staff nurse, who offered a hopeful and cheering prognosis, predicting that Owen should be able to return home the following week.

The next day, however, Ann had a call from a consultant, telling her that he was very worried. “We think he’s got pneumonia,” he said.

‘I was stunned; panicked. I rushed in with my niece, and they told me he was not responding to antibiotics.’ Owen’s condition deteriorated sharply. Ann recalls the eight hours she spent at his bedside on the day before he died, on October 23.

‘I took in a catalogue of shirts and ties that had arrived in the post because he loved colourful ties and I thought he’d find it a bit of a joke. I showed it to him and he said, in Welsh, “Tomorrow”. It was the last word he said to me.’

‘I sat by his bed and he was breathing with his oxygen mask on. One of his eyes was inflamed and watering, so I asked for a nurse to wipe it. But no one came. So I got a tissue from my bag.

‘I sat at his bedside from 2.30pm until 10.30pm and, as far as I recall, no one said anything to us. No one asked me if I wanted a cup of tea. It was as if I was invisible.

‘There was one ward round, and I stood in a corridor while they pulled the curtains around Owen’s bed. They were gone in a flash, and I’ve no idea what went on.

‘I tried to reassure him, so that he didn’t feel abandoned. He was very cold — as he had been all the time he was in hospital. I put red socks on him — he always liked red socks — and I sat and held his hand.’

When Ann returned home, she texted a friend: ‘No doctor has been since this morning. Very few nurses around either. Not very happy with the set-up.’ That night, she slept fitfully for a few hours, and was called back to the hospital at 5?am.

‘I was in a state of shock. I got dressed very quickly and put on a red coat that Owen loved.

‘My neighbour Geraldine came with me, and when we got there and found Owen’s knee squashed against the side bars of the bed. We pushed a pillow in between to make him more comfortable. His feet were sticking out of the end of the bed and he was cold. Geraldine got a towel and put it over his feet.

‘I’d once got a bill through parliament to improve the welfare of battery hens, and I remember thinking he looked so cramped and squashed he was just like one.

‘I just sat there and stroked his arm. I was afraid to do anything — but I was in a university teaching hospital and I thought they must know what they were doing.

‘It was all a bit of a haze, but I remember thinking: “Why aren’t they doing anything?” I tried to say encouraging words. I wanted to reassure him, to let him know that I was there.

‘I’d never seen anyone die before, but when I saw the blood draining from Owen’s face, I just knew that he was dead.
As Ann’s husband died, there was a sudden flurry of activity. ‘People rushed in, tore his mask off – but it was too little too late. And I suspect it had been for some time’

As Ann’s husband died, there was a sudden flurry of activity. ‘People rushed in, tore his mask off – but it was too little too late. And I suspect it had been for some time’

‘Just at that moment, a nurse came in with a trolley crying out: “Anyone for breakfast?” It was only a four-bed ward, and she showed indifference bordering on callousness. It was, for me, a very emotionally draining time — and I believe care and dignity were not there. Owen was treated with contempt.’

As Ann’s husband died, there was a sudden flurry of activity. ‘People rushed in, tore his mask off — but it was too little too late. And I suspect it had been for some time.’

A few days after her husband’s funeral, Ann returned to work. Friends had told her that work was the best therapy — but six weeks on, sleep eludes her.

For her, solace comes in the form of campaigning so that others do not suffer as her husband did. ‘This is why I’ve forced myself to speak out. I’ve had hundreds of supportive emails, and one retired GP wrote: “I felt ashamed of my profession and I cried at your distress.”

‘I don’t want any redress for myself, but I want to start a campaign. I just want to flag up the lack of compassion.

‘We all know nurses work under huge pressure, but so many now have degrees, and it seems to me there is more interest in their qualifications than in the qualities they should show to their patients.

‘Care, compassion, concern: this is what is needed. This is the message I want to get across.’

Mr Adam Cairns, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Chief Executive, said he was keen to meet with Ms Clwyd.

‘I would, of course, like to offer my sincere condolences to Ms Clwyd on the loss of her husband. I have been very concerned to learn of her experiences but, unfortunately, to date, and despite repeated efforts, Ms Clwyd has not responded to our offers to meet with her.

‘As a health board, we always accept responsibility when things don’t go well, which is why we really need Ms Clwyd to help us get to the bottom of what happened in the case of her late husband and to allow us to investigate fully the very serious concerns she has raised.

‘I’ve asked for a review of the case to be undertaken, a process which would be much improved by having information first-hand of the circumstances surrounding this case.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Any person can be a nurse without the degree after an informal internship. Somehow, working so hard and saving so much for a degree sucks the very compassion and humanity necessary to be a good nurse and a good citizen. Modern education is EVIL but in a very subtle way. Thats another reason to avoid those who swear by education, especially HIGHER EDUCATION. I had a dozen or so friends that ‘died’ (dehumanized to point of non-viability as friends) after getting educations.

They never seemed the same. As for hospitals, I’d say that my parents who had some reason to be interred, ALSO ‘died’ and became ‘different’ after their stays. Education and healthcare, even working on a salary in general somehow fracture the souls of those they come into contact with or those working at such places. Try talking to people with less education and compare, while the conversations are mostly less interesting or more limited, the sense of humanity is more intact. There might be some sort of ‘contract’ that the spirit seems to be affected by when using such institutions, not easy to place this occult sort of thing, but most of society excepting the people denouncing or untouched by the overall system make for a very difficult case to put forth, yet we still try and the closing thing to a key I’d say is to study Socialism and Marxism FIRST before getting into the Capitalist and Consumerist world. That is all I can offer to those who are afflicted with what I just described. Modern society is a spiritual sickness of sorts. That and high density living which fosters hive minds ad mob mindedness . . . the other thing that changes a person’s objectivity and ‘true self’, is marriage and family, but that will be for another response . . .

“Jurong Rock Cavern, South-east Asia’s first underground rock cavern for oil storage, with its two access shafts almost completed, will begin its first phase of proper construction at year end, with the first two caverns providing 480,000 cu meters of storage. JRC is located more than 100 meters below Jurong Island’s Banyan Basin and it will provide safe and secure storage for liquid hydrocarbons such as crude oil, condensate, naphtha and gasoil. Locating the JRC just beneath Jurong Island will add more infrastructural support to the major chemical companies operating there such as Chevron Philips, ExxonMobil and Shell. Phase 1 of the project will free up about 60ha of usable land above ground and it will create 1.47 million cu metres of storage space, equivalent to 580 Olympic-sized pools, when completed by 2014. The cavern itself will be up to 27 m high – equivalent to a nine-storey building. This first phase will consist of 8km of tunnels and five caverns housing a total of nine storage galleries. The caverns will be built using a technique that drills and blasts sedimentary rock and for greater stability, the inner wall will be lined with rock bolts. A planned phase 2 of the project will double JRC’s storage capacity. GK-JCPL Consortium, a Jurong International partnership with French engineering firm Geostock, has previously been awarded the contract to in providing basic engineering design and construction management services for the caverns and associated facilities. Jurong International is also previously responsible for many of the heavy infrastructure and engineering projects associated with Jurong Island including its initial formation via reclamation and amalgamation of seven islands.”

Why we need such a deep storage in granite…300 feet below the surface? Just hoping its not for nuclear plant or weapons storage.

Hyundai clinches $890m Jurong Rock Cavern contract – by RONNIE LIM

CONSTRUCTION proper of Singapore’s underground oil storage project is finally set to start with South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction clinching the main $890 million ‘design and build’ contract this week from JTC Corporation.

Actual building under this contract, for the first phase of Jurong Rock Cavern (JRC), begins at year- end, with the first two caverns providing 480,000 cubic metres of oil storage when ready in the first half of 2013.

The entire phase one, comprising five caverns, will offer a total of 1.47 million cu m when completed by 2014.

This will make the JRC slightly larger than the $470 million, 1.24 million cu m tankfarm of Horizon Terminals, but about two- thirds that of Hin Leong Trading’s $750 million, 2.3 million cu m Universal Terminal – Asia’s largest commercial storage.

The project had earlier run into some delays, although Senior Minister of State for Trade & Industry S Iswaran last month gave the assurance that Singapore was committed to the JRC which would help alleviate the land shortage on Jurong Island.

Investors have not been able to get land there to build more above-ground oil terminals needed by oil refiners and traders to store their oil and petrochemical products.

So despite being behind schedule and slightly above cost, the JRC will provide necessary infrastructure for Singapore’s oil hub, especially once the rebound comes.

The cost for phase one of JRC – being built under Banyan Basin – has run up by about one-third to $940 million from an earlier estimate of $700 million.

This includes the $50 million for two access shafts and start-up galleries – which are almost completed – to facilitate construction.

The chosen operator of the JRC – earlier expected to be announced at the same time as the main construction award – will, however, only be made known by mid-year, JTC officials indicated yesterday.

Existing terminal operators here such as Royal Vopak of Holland and Emirates National Oil Company are known to be vying for this.

The main construction award came 11/2 years after the tender was first called by JTC in late-2007.

Asked why it took that long, given that there were only two bidders (the other being South Korea’s SK Engineering), the spokesman explained that ‘it’s a huge tender which involved a lot of detailed work and is very complex’.

The work is being done 130m below the seabed, and Hyundai – which has experience with such projects in Taiwan and Korea – has to carry out ‘drill and blast’ excavation using explosives, he added.

The entire phase one will involve eight kilometres of tunnels, with five caverns made up of two storage galleries, with each gallery being 340m long, 20m wide and 27m high. (About nine-storeys high, each gallery is large enough to contain water from over 64 Olympic-sized pools).

‘The water pressure will keep the oil contained within the generally unlined rock caves,’ the spokesman said.

The higher project cost arose due to improvements made to the cavern designs to enhance operational flexibility, he explained.

A planned phase two of the JRC could add a further 1.3 million cu m of storage, doubling its capacity.

Asked if this could cost more than phase one, the spokesman said that ‘the complexity is similar, so it depends on the timing (of when the project is done)’.

I have a sneaky feeling its for something nuclear. It was mentioned before by our MIWs that Singapore may go nuclear in the future. Since when they tell u the truth about anything until TOO LATE or that we manage to ‘DIG’ things up trawling the internet. I have a real sneaky feeling about this ‘cavern’. Anyone have a map where this 8km cavern is located precisely? Dont want to live above it just in case. It’s in Jurong but where EXACTLY? “You can fool some of the people some of the time….BUT, you cannot fool ALL the people ALL of the time…

WHICH PARTY’S SLOGAN IS……We Aim To Fool The Majority All The Time?”

Re: Jurong Rock Cavern To Store What? Scary Thought…Nuclear Plant?

Quote Originally Posted by red amoeba View Post

the location for sure will be top secret. No lah, the big lobang is for oil. For weapons or ammo, it would be somewhere else. Instead of hving thse giantic tanks like big targets for terrorist, safer to store them underground. The MIWs have been telling too many lies that its hard to believe them anymore. Even if for oil, there must be air-vents to the surface. i like to know where these air vents are so as not to visit the area too frequently. These air vents should be spewing out invisible chemicals “You can fool some of the people some of the time….BUT, you cannot fool ALL the people ALL of the time…

WHICH PARTY’S SLOGAN IS……We Aim To Fool The Majority All The Time?”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Kiasu at the taxpayer’s expense? MM 4 million+ yearly, SM 4 million+ yearly, ON TOP of the President and Prime Minister’s posts . . . which 99% of Singaporeans said those salaries were legal? Obama earns 400K a year and USA is 1000s of times more than Singapore? Meritocracy or Institutionalized/Legalized Corruption?

ARTICLE 14

China to flatten 700 mountains for new metropolis in the desert – Lanzhou new area plan to begin with ‘mountain-moving project’, but financial and environmental wisdom of project questioned – Jonathan Kaiman in Beijing – guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 December 2012 17.48 GMT

A long, long time ago, an old Chinese peasant named Yu Gong decided to move two inconveniently located mountains away from blocking the entrance to his home. Legend has it he struggled terribly, but ultimately succeeded. Hence the Chinese idiom “Yu Gong moves the mountains.” Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Now Chinese developers are putting old Yu to shame.

In what is being billed as the largest “mountain-moving project” in Chinese history, oneof China’s biggest construction firms will spend £2.2bn to flatten 700 mountains levelling the area Lanzhou, allowing developers to build a new metropolis on the outskirts of the north-western city.

The Lanzhou New Area, 500 square miles (130,000 hectares) of land 50 miles from the city, which is the provincial capital of arid Gansu province, could increase the region’s gross domestic product to £27bn by 2030, according to the state-run China Daily. It has already attracted almost £7bn of corporate investment.

The project will be China’s fifth “state-level development zone” and the first in the country’s rapidly developing interior, according to state media reports. Others include Shanghai’s Pudong and Tianjin’s Binhai, home to a half-built, 120-building replica of Manhattan. China’s state council, its highest administrative authority, approved the Lanzhou project in August.

The first stage of the mountain-flattening initiative, which was reported on Tuesday by the China Economic Weekly magazine, began in late October and will eventually enable a new urban district almost 10 square miles in size northeast of downtown Lanzhou – a small, but important part of the Lanzhou Nnew area project to be built.

One of the country’s largest private companies: the Nanjing-based China Pacific Construction Group, headed by Yan Jiehe, is behind the initiative. The 52-year-old former teacher is portrayed in China as a sort of home-grown Donald Trump – ultra-ambitious and preternaturally gifted at navigating the country’s vast network of “guanxi”, or personal connections.

Yan was born in the 1960s as the youngest of nine children. After a decade of working as a high-school teacher and cement plant employee, he founded his construction firm in 1995 and amassed a fortune by buying and revamping struggling state-owned enterprises. In 2006 the respected Hu Run report named Yan – then worth about £775m – as China’s second-richest man.

His latest plan has evoked a healthy dose of scepticism. Lanzhou, home to 3.6 million people alongside the silty Yellow River, already has major environmental concerns. Last year the World Health Organisation named it the city with the worst air pollution in China. The city’s main industries include textiles, fertiliser production and metallurgy.

Liu Fuyuan, a former high-level official at the country’s National Development and Reform Commission, told China Economic Weekly that the project was unsuitable because Lanzhou is frequently listed as among China’s most chronically water-scarce municipalities. “The most important thing is to gather people in places where there is water,” he said.

Others also pointed to the financial risk of building a new city in the middle of the desert. “All this investment needs to be paid back with residential land revenue, and I don’t see much on returns in these kinds of cities,” said Tao Ran, an economics professor at Renmin University in Beijing. “If you have a booming real estate market it might work, but it seems to me that real estate in China is very, very risky.”

In an email interview, a China Pacific Construction Group spokeswoman dismissed criticisms of the project as unjustified. “Lanzhou’s environment is already really poor, it’s all desolate mountains which are extremely short of water,” said Angie Wong. “Our protective style of development will divert water to the area, achieve reforestation and make things better than before.”

Yan’s plans could be considered “a protective style of development, and a developmental style of protection”, she said, adding: “I think whether it’s England or America, or any other country, no one will cease development because of resource scarcity caused by geography.”

A promotional video posted on the Lanzhou new area website shows a digitally-rendered cityscape of gleaming skyscrapers and leafy parks. Against a driving operatic score, the camera zooms out from a large government building to reveal features of the area’s imagined urban topography: a clock tower, a new airport, an oil refinery, a light-rail system, and a stadium packed with cheering fans.

The new area “will lead to an environmentally sustainable economy based on energy-saving industries” including advanced equipment manufacturing, petrochemical industries and modern agriculture, wrote Chinese Central Television on its website.

The Lanzhou city government could not be reached for comment.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

There is no such thing as ‘real estate’, this has tremendous occult significance instead. Note the location and surrounding quake zones. This is a fengshui confluence city that looks set to be filled with life energy if not mistaken or even able to somehow harness the energy at the safe point. Concept of money and real estate is a farce btw. Save for allodial titles backed by force of arms, real goods and real labour/services, or the whimsical entertainments of the RLD, OPZ or Casino city, there is nothing on this planet but evil politicians term limitless and nepotistic, along with plutocrats (those who are BOTH politician and plutocrat are the worst) that sequester wealth and pollute the environment.

European Commission letter to House of Lords says Scotland’s membership will ‘cease to apply’ if it breaks away from the UK / Spanish government would block entry, fearing it would embolden Catalonian separatists

Brussels will refuse to let Scotland automatically join the European Union if voters back Alex Salmond’s plans for independence, it emerged today.

Officials at the European Commission have revealed Scotland’s EU membership will ‘cease to apply’ if it is no longer part of the UK.

The Spanish government has made clear it would ‘veto’ any attempt by Scotland to join.

It is a major blow to claims made by Mr Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister, that Scotland would automatically continue to be in the Euro bloc.

He was ridiculed after claiming in a TV interview that he had obtained legal advice on EU membership but it had to remain secret. He later admitted no advice had been sought.

Now it has emerged that a letter sent to a House of Lords committee warns that that independence ‘would not have a neutral impact’.

Scotland would become a ‘third country’ – outside the EU and have to apply to join the 27-member union, the European Commission told the Lords economic affairs committee.

‘If a territory of a member state ceases to be part of that member state because it has become an independent state then the treaties would cease to apply to that territory,’ according to the letter reported by The Scotsman.

If Scotland did lodge an application it would need to ‘fulfil the usual obligations’ and be ‘accepted unanimously by the members of the council [member states]’.

In a recent debate, Lib Dem Lord Wallace revealed the UK government was clear that any attempt for Scotland to join the EU would meet with difficulties.

‘On the question of Catalonia and Spain, it is entirely clear that the Spanish Government are opposed to any idea of secession and would be likely to veto a Scottish application to join the European Union under current circumstances.

There have been exchanges between the Spanish Government and the European Commission on this exact issue.’

The Spanish government fears that if an independent Scotland gained membership it would bolster calls for Catalonian independence.

It directly contradicts claims made by Mr Salmond’s SNP, who have repeatedly suggested Scotland would automatically join the EU as a new state.
The Scottish independence referendum is being held in autumn 2014, when Mr Salmond hopes to capitalise on a patriotic mood marking 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn

The Scottish independence referendum is being held in autumn 2014, when Mr Salmond hopes to capitalise on a patriotic mood marking 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn

SNP MP Pete Wishart told the Commons last month: ‘Scotland is a constituent part of the United Kingdom. We are currently a member of the European Union. After independence, we will continue to be a member of the European Union.’

But Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire told the same debate that ‘everything would change’ if Scots vote to go it alone in the referendum due in autumn 2014.

An independent Scotland would not automatically be a member of the EU and would have to ‘start afresh’, he added.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘Immediately following a Yes vote in Autumn 2014, Scotland will still be part of the UK. Negotiations will then take place on the transfer of powers from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament along with negotiations on the specific terms of an independent Scotland’s continued membership of the European Union.

‘Ministers have always been clear that these negotiations will be needed – but the crucial point is that they will take place from within the EU.

‘Scotland has been an integral part of the European Union for almost four decades and an independent Scotland will continue in EU membership. As legal, constitutional and European experts have confirmed, Scotland is part of the territory of the European Union and the people of Scotland are citizens of the EU, and there is no provision for those circumstances to change upon independence.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

I wouldn’t worry if I were Salmond or Scotland. When Scotland becomes a sovereign state and possibly banking or hub for BRICS, Brussels will change their tone to the effect that automatic joining will be forestalled by going through the motions of ‘starting afresh’. This is terribly manipulative but a face saving necessity.

Scotland presents a great opportunity for BRICS by being sidelined in this manner by EU. BRICS well needs a friendly point to the EU by and if the EU has decided to distance from Scotland then BRICS would certainly find Scotland that much more attractive, not that EU and BRICS are in any spat that Scotland is already not aware of. UN can even drop Scotland, but so long as BRICS is around the multipolar world will balance things out.

An independent Scotland would not automatically be a member of the EU and would have to ‘start afresh’, he added. Well thats just pretentious. And if by some impossibility that Scotland fails to join EU, the BRICS will be very happy to have a new member EVEN IF Scotland becomes the North Korea of the EU. Like a trust fund under guardianship and insulting as hell to Scotland to the tune of a deflated bagpipe gasping a sour note of contrived control. I’m not Scottish but already feel offended on the Scots’ behalf. Incidentally, try the CGI “Brave”, the settings make the Scots into a circus, main characters are ‘fractured’ as hell and an unhealthy role model . . .

Sometimes a highly individualistic name for a baby is not good news for a kid, says Dean Obeidallah

Editor’s note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is a political comedian and frequent commentator on various TV networks including CNN. He is the editor of the politics blog “The Dean’s Report” and co-director of the upcoming documentary “The Muslims Are Coming!” Follow him on Twitter: @deanofcomedy

(CNN) — Siri, Mars, Mac and Luna. I’m not talking Apple products or planetary terms. These are baby names. And not just any baby names but ones that have jumped in popularity in 2012, according to Baby Center.com’s just released list.

Baby Siri? Seriously, who would name their bundle of joy after a frustrating Apple product that hardly ever works? And speaking of Apple (see daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin,) that name moved up a whopping 585 places on the list of names for girls born in 2012. So there could conceivably be a family out there with a daughter named Apple and a son named Siri. (Hope that entitles the family to a discount on an iMac.)

There was a time when bizarre baby naming was something only celebrities did to their kids (as if being the child of a celebrity wasn’t challenging enough). There’s Beyonce and Jay Z’s Blue Ivy, Penn Jillette’s son, Moxie Crimefighter, Bono’s daughter Memphis Eve, actor Jason Lee’s son Pilot Inspektor, and the list goes on and on.
Dean Obeidallah

But now this “condition” is apparently spreading to the rest of us. In addition to the offbeat names above, 2011 saw babies sporting such names as: Moo, Draper, Graceland and Tequila.

There are even media reports that this past weekend some parents allegedly named their newborn daughter, Hashtag. That one may turn out to be an Internet hoax, but after last year’s story of a child in Egypt being named Facebook (in praise of the role Facebook played in the Egyptian revolution), we can’t be too far from babies named Retweet and Spam Blocker anyway. It truly is only a matter of time until you meet a kid named DVR or Playstation 3.
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Apparently some parents believe that giving their child a jaw-dropping name will make him or her more distinctive. News flash: it’s not the name that makes your child stand out, it’s his or her achievements.

While I don’t want to rain on creativity, let’s be honest — these weird names are more about parents showing off their “cleverness” than about finding a name that fits the child. It’s not like the parents got to know the child first for a few months and then said, “You know this baby really is a little Siri.”
Beyonce, Jay-Z welcome baby Blue Ivy
Jolie: We are all Malala

And do these parents even consider that a baby’s name can cause consequences for the child that the parents never imagined, and in many areas of the child’s life? When I reflect upon my own name, I realize that my life could have been far different if my parents had followed their initial instincts when naming me.

My Palestinian father wanted to name me Saladin after the famous Muslim leader, while my Sicilian mother wanted to name me Dino. Instead they compromised on Dean.

Growing up in North Jersey, Dean was not a common name. But it actually made me feel different in a good way being the only Dean in my class. And even today in looking at the list of baby names for 2012, I was actually happy that Dean was not in the top 100.

Still, the truth is, if I’d been named Dino, I would have certainly been viewed as more ethnic by teachers, potential employers and co-workers. I would have been required to continually overcome cultural stereotypes.

And if I’d been named the very Arabic Saladin Obeidallah, you could just imagine all the “fun” I would have had in post-9/11 America. I would have likely volunteered for “random” security checks at the airport to make it easier for all involved or simply got used to taking the bus cross country.

But there’s a difference between a name that isn’t overly common and naming your child after your favorite appliance. A name is a big part of a kid’s identity. It can trigger impressions about a child even before we meet him or her — a particular problem among the closed-minded of the world, but this is the world your child will have to navigate.

For example, studies have found that children with names that linguistically sound like they come from a lower socioeconomic status are less likely to be recommended by school officials for gifted classes and actually more likely to be labeled as learning disabled.

Other research has revealed that boys with feminine sounding names — such as Shannon or Ashley — have had more disciplinary problems in school because of their response to teasing. Still other studies have found a link between how much people like their own names and their level of self-esteem.

So, parents, keep in mind that your choice of name will have a lasting impact on your child — both for good and bad. And if you insist on picking a bizarre name for the baby, then I propose that your child be empowered to rename you with any name he or she chooses. At least then it’s fair that a child named Hashtag has parents named Angry Birds and YouTube.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

In the past there were in some cultures NAMING CEREMONIES AT ADULTHOOD. The child would choose a name LATER, and all children knew their names when young were TEMPORARY and that parents chose those names. Sometimes what the child did that was most unique would also decide what that child was RENAMED at adulthood. So ‘Hashtag’ away and legalise/normalise name changing at the age of 21. Knowing that names are temporary and chosen by parents, kids would not be affected by teasing because they knew they were going to change that name, or the teasers would not bother to tease knowing the name would also change by then.

An anti right-to-work protester is seen outside of Michigan’s state capitol building in Lansing December 11, 2012. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

(Reuters) – Michigan enacted a ban on mandatory union membership on Tuesday, dealing a stunning blow to organized labor in the state that is home to U.S. automakers and the symbol of industrial labor in the United States.

As more than 12,000 unionized workers and supporters protested at the Capitol in Lansing, the Republican-led state House of Representatives gave final approval to a pair of “right-to-work” bills covering public- and private-sector unions.

Republican Governor Rick Snyder signed the bills into law as soon as they reached his desk, completing in a few days a campaign to make Michigan the 24th U.S. state to prohibit unions from requiring employees to join and contribute dues.

“I view this as an opportunity to stand up for Michigan’s workers, to be pro-worker,” Snyder told a news conference after he signed the bills.

The laws will take effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session, which means they will probably come into force sometime in April. Existing union contracts will not be changed until they expire, according to a provision of the laws.

In a rapid turn of events, Michigan moved from being a bastion of union influence to joining states, mostly in the South, that have weakened local protections for unions.

The Teamsters union national president, James Hoffa, whose father, Jimmy Hoffa, was one of the nation’s most famous labor leaders until he disappeared in 1975 in Michigan, denounced Republican leaders in a speech to the protesters.

“Let me tell the governor and all those elected officials who vote for this shameful, divisive bill – there will be repercussions,” Hoffa said, adding the Republicans could be defeated in the next election.

Unions have accused Snyder of caving in to wealthy Republican business owners and political donors such as the Koch brothers, owners of an energy and trading conglomerate, and Richard DeVos, the co-founder of Michigan-based Amway.

Snyder, a former computer company executive who had said “right-to-work” legislation was too divisive for Michigan, changed course last week and announced his support for it.

While labor leaders decried the legislation, Republican Representative Lisa Lyons said during the debate in the House that such laws were not an attack on unions.

“This is the day Michigan freed its workers,” she said.

Opponents argue that the measures undermine a basic union tenet of bargaining collectively with employers for better wages, benefits and working conditions. They also allow workers to opt out of a union, potentially reducing membership.

By weakening unions, Republicans also could hurt the Democratic Party, which traditionally receives a significant portion of its funding and grass-roots support from unions.

Supporters of right-to-work measures say some unions have become too rigid and workers should be given a choice of whether to join. They also say a more flexible labor market encourages business investment, citing “right-to-work” states where some foreign automakers have put plants rather than in Michigan.

CRIES OF ‘SHAME’

The measures were approved to cries of “shame” from protesters inside the Capitol building, which was closed to visitors when it reached capacity of 2,200, Michigan State Police Inspector Gene Adamczyk said.

An estimated 10,000 more people demonstrated outside in cold and snowy conditions, including members of the United Auto Workers union, and teachers, who shut down several schools in the state to attend the rally.

A few protesters were ejected from the Capitol after they chanted slogans from the gallery during the debate. Protesters tore down two tents set up for supporters of “right-to-work” on the grounds of the Capitol. Adamczyk said six people were arrested after scuffling with officers.

A mixture of pepper spray and tear gas was used on one person, Adamczyk said, although Reuters journalists also saw protesters sprayed with a substance at a government building near the Capitol.

The protests recalled big rallies in Wisconsin nearly two years ago when Republicans voted to curb public-sector unions. Wisconsin never tried to pass “right-to-work” bills.

But Indiana earlier this year became the first state in the industrial Midwest to approve “right-to-work” legislation and several other states are watching the Michigan action closely.

LEGAL CHALLENGES LOOM

Republicans in Michigan were also emboldened by the defeat in the November election of a ballot initiative backed by unions that would have enshrined the right to collective bargaining in the state constitution.

Michigan is home of the heavily unionized U.S. auto industry, with some 700 manufacturing plants in the state. The state has the fifth highest percentage of workers who are union members, at 17.5 percent

The Detroit area is headquarters for General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler, which is majority-owned by Fiat SpA.

The UAW was founded in Michigan after a 1932 protest at a Ford plant in Dearborn left five people dead, increasing public sympathy for industrial workers during the Great Depression and leading to national legislation protecting unions.

Major automakers, which secured concessions from the UAW after nearly going bankrupt during the recession of 2008-09, were careful not to take sides publicly in the fight.

All of the so-called Big Three domestic automakers said they were “neutral” on “right-to-work,” even though the Michigan Chamber of Commerce strongly supports it.

“At Ford, we are focused on working with all our partners, including the UAW,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Democrats and unions have vowed to challenge the new laws in the courts, to try to overturn them in a ballot initiative and possibly oust through recall elections some Republicans who voted for the measures.

Democratic Representative Douglas Geiss said “right-to-work” laws would lead to a resumption of the battles surrounding the creation of unions decades ago.

“There will be fights on the shop floor if many workers announce they will not pay union dues,” Geiss said.

(Additional reporting by Robert Carr, David Bailey and Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Greg McCune and Peter Cooney)

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Reuters?!? A ban on mandatory union membership *IS NOT*, dealing a stunning blow to organized labor in the state that is home to U.S. automakers and the symbol of industrial labor in the United States. This protects the workers from mob mindedness or being forced into what become SECRET SOCIETIES that also collect yearly dues or other fees that mosy workers who need a union cannot and would rather not pay! Work unions are powerful and goodly when CONSENSUAL, but when EEVERY WORKER IS FORCED TO JOIN, we end up with ‘Satrapies’ run by tyrants, especially if term limits in the COMMITTEE are not a fact or part of the constitution of the Union in question. This law protects the individual worker by giving OPTIONS. How could Reuters write such news?!?

‘Supporters of right-to-work measures say some unions have become too rigid and workers should be given a choice of whether to join. They also say a more flexible labor market encourages business investment, citing “right-to-work” states where some foreign automakers have put plants rather than in Michigan.’ This says everything.

“There will be fights on the shop floor if many workers announce they will not pay union dues,” Geiss said.

Oh yea? So what if they don;t join or don’t pay. If they don’t want to pay the union mafia, thats their choice. Why should there be any fights at all. Are these unions thugs?

i fuckin hate this religion ,i grew up in muslim majority country and i can say muslims are full of shitt even though i don’t hate muslims i hate islam “To Muslims it is always a just war if the end goal is to spread Islam. If the war is waged by non Muslims to stop Muslims from marching in to spread Islam inside their land, it is an unjust war…Many Muslims call for da’wa in the West, which technically means “an invitation to Islam.” They present it as a “peaceful” invitation, but they do not tell the West that this is the first step before outright war if their da’wa is rejected. So when Muslims say da’wa, the West should be warned, because they do not want you to know that da’wa is merely the “make nice” first step before preceding outright jihad.” 7:56 PM

Blogger Gabe Del said…

I’m a witness to the ignorance that is Muslim . I’m a US Marine forward deployed on my 5th combat deployment. Four in Iraq and now one in afghanastan . These guys are illiterate and simple minded. The ten percent that can read will twist young Muslims minds to make them believe what ever they want them to believe in their Gods name. Kill, kill, kill is what they teach them against anyone not Muslim. There Koran teaches peace and good will, but I agree, history tells the truth of what kind of people they really are. No need to swear or lower yourself to their level. Muslims are the infection this world so desperately needs a cure for. 10:19 AM

Dead Ted said…

So your saying that the sneak attack on our towers, the pentagon, and the White House is a way to protect their land and people? Good plan worked wonders…some of the dumbest shit I’ve ever read 2:38 PM

Blogger Red_Rooster said…

Their minds are f***ed, memorizing the fucking Koran. Their ‘thinking’ part of the brain has gone redundant. They hate the Jews but do everything the Jews do; do not eat pork, cut their dicks, bleed a poor animal to death and call it ‘Hallal’ instead of ‘Kosher’, write backwards and wash their dicks before they start praying. In fact, the dumb muslims, follow the Jewish calender! The first day for the muslims is ‘Yom al Ahed’, meaning the first day. It is the Sunday; the first Jewish day after the Sabath. Yom al Itneen, Yom al thalata, Robo, Khamis and Juma, stand for the second, third, fouth, fifth and sixth day. The muslims 7th. day, is ‘Yom al Septh’; literally meaning, the seventh day. In fact, the Sabath; the day the Jews were told to rest. The muslims only differ from the Jews, is in their day of rest. They rest a day before the Jews. In prayer, physically they are the same, except the Jews literally tell you they are fucking somebody, while the muslims tell you, “Fuck Me!”

samy said…

to Jihan

I know what is written in Quraan , i was forced to read and even memorize it at school when I was living in my mother country before migrate to canada ( thank God), the true islam relegion is violence .. force other people to convert otherwise they will be islam enemy and should be killed .. this is what written in Quraan and you knw it and can not deny it… even in here in canada they are trying to force the stubid islamic belives on other people and their ultimate goal is to take over north america and europ .. I hope that our government to wake up and realise what is going on … WAKE UUUPPPP.., islam is evil , muslims are twisted minded and hate everyone simply because he or she is not muslim !!!! they will be in everlasting HELL.. this is the simple plan truth, so what ever you or any muslim try to say otherwise .. it is a BIGGGGG LIE.!! 10:45 AM

Event_Horizon said…

They are so backward in all aspects of life including commerce, infrastructure or technology. They are a brainwashed nation thirsty for the blood of other successful nations. And the worst part is their fucked up religion acts as a catalyst. It inspires them to wage was over the world. For how long will the world continue to tolerate these freaks of religion? The muslims sole mission in life is to create terror in the world. That is what they live for, that’s what their religion teaches them. They are jealous of the developed countries . . . P.S. Muslims smell bad…..True Story! 12:38 PM

Blogger Pris said…

I love all other religions except islam. Muslims are truly f***** up, but don’t know any better because they are brainwashed and left with no brains. Watch all the muslim countries in the world, none of their economies are doing well. The ones that have oil may have money, but they have no infrastructure, no scientific manpower etc. These assholes come to the west for a better life and then try to force their evil religion, customs, traditions and damn sharia law on the free citizens of the world. If left to thrive these guys will make our western nations deteriorate to the abysmal level of the muslim countries they came from. Their goal is to dominate the world and so they multiply like rats to increase their numbers. Before they become a sizable population in the west we should send these guys, including the ones that were born or converted in the west, to muslim countries and contain them there. Let them over populate muslim countries . . . are contaminating the west and so should be stopped before it is too late. To start off, we need to prohibit building of mosques and islamic schools, and publishing of the unholy koran. We need to unite and end this evil.

Blogger TheDeathBird said…

I know a family who left Lebanon to flee Muslim persecution. One of their grandsons returned to visit. On this trip there was a man yelling on the TV set in his hotel room. The man was protesting being fined a cow for shooting his wife for being outside the house. She had crossed a field and a man on a horse said something to her, since he didn’t get a clear shot at the man. Since he could not prove the man was really talking to his wife they fined him a cow. This is Muslim law this is what the Koran teaches. Also, in the Koran a woman told her husband to stop following Mohamid or she would leave She believed Mo was a bad evil monster. Her husband begged her to not talk bad about Mo but since She wouldn’t stop talking bad about Mohamid and She was Pregnant he cut his unborn child out of her belly. He went to Mo and told him and Mohamid said ” I can find no fault with this man” OK people this Story is in the Koran! can you imagine any other spiritual leader like Jesus or Krishna saying something like that! Only the spawn of hell the son of Satan the true Anti Christ would say such a thing Muslims worship the devil their God lives in hell and eats the faithful Muslims for dinner. While pretending to be God. Let any Muslim tell us that story isn’t in the Koran I read it! they follow this monster Mohamido the vile and say he is good. Anyone who reads the Koran who has any love inside them or spirtuality will be sad such a vile work of hate can be considered a work inspired by God. 7:48 PM

sexyharry said…

these guys(muslims) when small in numbers behave as if they are good (we respect other religions,and our god is tolerant etc.) but reality is there quran teaches to hate,kill people who doesn’t believe in islam, some of muslims are good as they doesn’t follow islam properly…….as muslims number increases they will be no more friend of urs ,they will take the side their muslim brothers and try to implement the shariah law’s,blasts,killing who leaves islam……so,i am a guy from sanathan dharam,in our religion we respect every other religion and our religion doesn’t believe in conversion bcoz god resides in us not by simple conversion…..so,i love all religions except islam ………4:02 AM

Blogger vsindia said…

Thes muslims are really lowly creatures. all the terrorists in this world are muslims. how can screw muslims ?

– stop giving them jobs
– shun them publicly
– make separate , stricter laws for muslims
– lets convert all their kids after killing the men
– lets creat gas chambers once again – only for muslims/

I hate them so much that my fist clench and jaws go tight when i think of these bastards. They have forcibly thrown out hindus out of kashmir and christians out of bosnia.

4:42 AM

mark said…

not all muslims are bad but I am sick of them. I am sick of them coming to the west and demanding that shariah law be implemented in western nations. if muzzies think shariah law is so great then they should piss off and go live in a muslim nation.

sick of their fantical hate and terrorism.
sick of their demands and sick of their backward ways.
muslims should go and live in muslim nations and keep their shit ways in muslim nations.

10:08 PM

Blogger marine corps captain said…

JIHAN,

I have taken significant time to read your Koran. And I would rather wipe my ass with a dirty, dime store novel than waste another minute reading, or listening, to that complete pile of pig cum.
Thank GOD I had the opportunity to kill 19 of your brethren while in Iraq. 19 less jihadists on the move.
It’s not ignorance my camel fucking friend…I completely understand your beliefs, motives and wants for this world. And if given the chance I would end your life as well. And your family’s and friend’s lives if possible.
And please refrain from the old tag line of “That’s not true Islam.” Any individual with a 3rd grade education has the ability to understand your religion of hate, murder, suppresion and penchant for death. Watch your back, Muhhamed…you won’t have a second chance with me. 8:23 AM

Fighting to live said…

Hi guys . I am married to a moslem but I am Greek Orthodox. This is a quite funny mix. Our kids are Christian I made sure . But the Moslems all jokes aside have made and continue to make efforts to convert me. That is quite frightening. My husband offered to convert. So I decided to make him sell everything in Pakistan and the next step is to convert him. Wait and see. Keep up the great work

8:50 PM

Blogger Uncle_Sam said…

this maessage is for the fucking muslims

Long gone are the days when you used to blow yourselves up in the middle of the streets in the countries that you infest with your presence.You forget that we are the ones who created and adopted this so-called human rights but we can also break em! you call yourselves warriors ? Com on up and fight you stinckin’ cowards! we’ll show you what a war means…We’ll show you what everyone felt 65 years ago!We’ll show the Nazi style bitches…we will behead all of your stinckin’ children and your masked-shit-pushed-in wifes… Can u all spell together HOLOCAUST? 3:10 PM

Blogger Red_Rooster said…

sdlfihsdiulkgh54;kuy5b4jgrehthredyth said… This man talks of porn … Tell him to go to Yemen. He can fuck 12 yr. old girls there for free! Three times a day! Free!

I lived in Yemen and I know. All the women go out around noon to eat Kat at their friends’. You just pick these Burka clad women and boy, when they enter your home, the Burka is off in a jiffy! Just like that! Pot luck but fucking lucky evertime I had. I must have fucked over 300 muslim cunts in my 5-year stay there. No worry of husbands. They are all in working in Saudi Arabia; coolies there and their 12 year old brides are getting fucked back home. By the way … all their women have inserted in them, the ‘Copper T’. A muslim Female gynacologist I knew, made a roaring business from inserting these things.

The ruder parts of the above have been edited out. The acts of terror are clear enough, but just from a woman’s angle, one doesn’t need to be a woman to want Islam to end in some places, to see how horrible Muslimahs lives are in some places . . . combine with a chastity belt (Christianity) and wallah, a semi-Cyborg . . . how much do some of the very worse among Muslets hate life or procreation that makes them treat women like this, makes the ‘no condoms’ Catholic lot seem humane even though abortion IS A HUMAN RIGHT.

Full Comment’s Araminta Wordsworth brings you a daily round-up of quality punditry from across the globe. Today: It’s the statistics, stupid!

There are more than 83 million people living in Egypt, the Middle East’s most populous nation; 90% of them are Sunni Muslims. More than half dwell in small towns and villages in the countryside and tend to be deeply conservative, attached to tradition. There is a small, urban, educated upper-middle class of liberals and left-wingers.

If these people get the vote, guess who the majority would go for? Under these circumstances, the dramatic swing from dictatorship through democracy to dictatorship is all too sadly predictable.

Now, Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood member who was elected Egyptian president in June, is showing his true colours — he’s like Hosni Mubarak with a beard. He wants nothing less than an Islamic state, with sharia law and Muslim clerics empowered to render legal opinions.

His idea of reaching out to the opposition is to restate his position, as he did in last week’s speech. This was so devoid of anything resembling reconciliation or fresh ideas, the BBC cut off the live feed after about seven minutes.

Instead, Morsi is calling on the military to do his dirty work, arresting and trying civilians. Brotherhood members have also resorted to torture and the kind of vigilante “justice” that was a feature of the ancient regime. In their view, opponents are Mubarak supporters and/or paid troublemakers.

The Economist for one has seen the writing on the wall.

[Morsi’s actions have polarized Egypt’s exhausted people. The most populous and politically pivotal Arab state stands on the brink of prolonged civil strife, or a descent into a form of veiled dictatorship not unlike the one so recently overthrown, only this time in drab Islamist garb …
The abruptness of the Islamists’ lunge for control has ignited Egypt’s hitherto fractious opposition in outrage, prompting protests on the scale of those during the revolution. A group of former presidential candidates has picked Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace prize-winner and former UN official, as their leader, and threatened strikes and continued protests until Mr. Morsi relents. The judges, who usually run such things, plan to boycott the referendum. But he shows no signs of backing down. Tired, impoverished and apprehensive, ordinary Egyptians may be tempted to let the Muslim Brotherhood have their way.

Morsi remains intent on strictly following the course of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Islamist group wants to see their man, who won a narrow victory in summer elections, to put Egypt on the path to fundamentalist Islam. And the Muslim Brotherhood is in no mood for compromise. After more than 80 years in the political underground, Brotherhood leaders have decided to seize their chance. And Morsi increasingly looks the part of a fainthearted Brotherhood puppet. He appears to have accepted his country’s descent into violence, making more clashes on the streets of Cairo inevitable.

At The National Review, Andrew C. McCarthy says Egypt’s unravelling was inevitable.

Here’s the late-breaking news: The Muslim Brotherhood is the enemy of democracy. … the Muslim Brotherhood is an innately, incorrigibly Islamic-supremacist outfit. Wherever it establishes a presence, it seeks — as gradually as indigenous conditions require, and as rapidly as they allow — to implement its repressive construction of sharia. Wherever it gets the opportunity to rule, it uses its power to impose this sharia, despite resistance from the society’s non-Islamist factions.

This is not a mere theory. Egypt, the world’s most important Arab country, is violently convulsing before our eyes in direct reaction to the suffocation that is Islamist rule. So, will we finally take the lesson? Will we finally come to understand why democracy and Islamic supremacism cannot coexist? Ebrahim Moosa, an Islamic studies prof at North Carolina’s Duke University, believes the Egyptian president and his Islamic allies badly misjudged the situation.

Mr. Morsi seems to have forgotten the sensitivity that a country freshly freed from decades of despotism might feel towards anything with an odour of dictatorship. Secretive and inward-looking, the Brotherhood appears surprised by the depth of mistrust that many Egyptians, including pious Muslims of every social class, feel towards them. The Islamists’ constituency remains large and their organising power formidable. “They will rally the poor with the slogan: to be a Muslim, vote yes for the constitution and confound the infidels,” predicts Muhammad Nour Farahat, a law professor at Cairo’s Zagazig University. Yet even if Mr Morsi and his Brothers manage to pull this off, a heavy cloud will remain over their rule.

Why not the military just take over and do away with the Islamist b.s. and revive a BENEVOLENT Constitutional Pharoanate via DNA testing to determine the closest Royal Egyptian bloodline? A BENEVOLENT Grand Vizier from the military would well be tolerated even for LIFE (if all unused state land is redistribited to the landless or homeless in Egypt) while the country RE-EGYPTIANISES. This would be preferable to this potential threat of the Muslim Brotherhood Islamist imposition of Hudud or Syariah under Morsi which does not need to be written into the constitution and instead remain seperate from the State. Religion and State are not to be confused into a single item under any Islamist leaning Constitution. Let the Muslets impose their own laws on theselves, LEAVE THE SECULARITY OF STATE ALONE.

WHERE IS THE Pharoah’s Brotherhood or Amon-Ra’s Brotherhood to counter the Muslim Brotherhood? Freemasonry across the world could accept no less!

This is EGYPT and Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, the central symbol of the Egyptian civilisation is THE PYRAMID OF THE PHAROAHS . . . NOT ARABIA and Mecca or Medina, the central symbol of the Arabian civilisation is THE CUBE OF KABAA.

Egypt is not Arabia.

Adopt EGYPTIAN NAMES not keep using those ARABIAN NAMES (the wealthier can trace their DNA down to the nobility or even Kings if they try hard enough). Pray and worship at EGYPTIAN Temples. Respect a revived Egyptian Priesthood not a Foreign Priesthood that answers to a foreign Arab King. Wear Egyptian garb. In Egypt, if the Egyptian people have the will, an Egyptian King is even possible (Constitutional Monarch), or an Egyptian Pharoah rather.

Learn Hieratic instead of Arabic and remember that EGYPTIAN culture and polytheistic EGYPTIAN religion (well if the people are as lazy as Akenathan, worship Amon-Ra instead for a while NOT the Kabaa – even as the Aabakian Octohedron Cult arises on the Mecc(h)an Antipode) are well loved the world over, as opposed to Islamism’s monotheistic malaise and penchant for association with oil and terror, rampant disrespectful proselytization and sometimes forced conversions.

At least some Egyptians seem to remember who they are . . . the Egyptian Pantheon’s first High Priest perhaps? Imhotep! Imhotep! Imhotep II rather . . .

(The Star) – Hair dressing salon operators are learning the hard way that gender segregation rules in Kelantan apply to non-Muslims as well. They have had to pay many summonses for allowing their female workers to cut the hair of non-Muslim male patrons, which they thought was permissible.

E-Life Hair Salon manager Ong Lee Ting said she had settled 11 summonses since she opened for business in KB Mall in 2010.

Hairy situation: Ong showing one of the 11 summonses she received for allowing her female employees to cut the hair of non-Muslim male patrons.Hairy situation: Ong showing one of the 11 summonses she received for allowing her female employees to cut the hair of non-Muslim male patrons.

The fines were imposed under Section 107(2) of the Local Council Act by-laws which prohibits a woman from cutting the hair of a man and vice versa regardless of religion.

“I have been paying fines of between RM200 and RM350,” said Ong, who was issued the latest summons on Tuesday.

“I find the by-laws confusing … they should not apply to a non-Muslim woman cutting the hair of a non-Muslim man.”

Gender segregation is among the controversial regulations imposed by the PAS state government, which insists that the rule be also observed at supermarket check-outs.

The last time Ong went to the local council office to pay a compound, she was told that the licence for the salon would be revoked because of the many summonses issued to the operator.

However, council secretary Mohd Anis Hussein said: “As long as they (the salon owners) pay the compounds, they will be allowed to operate.”

He added that the salon owners understood the by-laws and the consequences of ignoring them.

Nice Hair Salon manager Alice Ong Lee Ruong was baffled by the rule.

“I would understand it if we were fined for allowing our women workers to cut the hair of Muslim men. But they were attending to non-Muslim men,” she said.

Ong, who had settled 10 summonses so far, wondered for how long she would have to pay fines.

“They are not cheap and we have to consider the high rental, salaries of our workers and other expenses,” she said.

Another salon manager, who declined to be named, said the council by-laws were making life difficult for hair dressers.

(The Star) – The DAP wants the Kelantan government to intervene in the municipal council by-laws prohibiting women from cutting men’s hair in the state.

Chairman Karpal Singh said he was surprised that the state decided to enforce such a ruling on non-Muslims.

“The state government has publicly declared that Islamic laws will not be extended to non-Muslims. PAS has also stated hudud will only be applied to Muslims.

“There’s a lot of concern among the public on what has happened in Kelantan. If hudud is allowed to be applicable to Muslims, there will come (a time that it will) be extended to non-Muslims,” he told a press conference in Air Itam on Saturday.

He was responding to reports that hair salon operators in the PAS-ruled state were being fined for breaching the by-laws which prohibit a woman from cutting the hair of a man and vice versa.

Karpal Singh said the ruling was unconstitutional and could be challenged in court.

“In fact, it should be challenged in court. Those concerned should not pay the fines. It is unlawful.

“I hope that the PAS leadership will intervene and do something about it as soon as possible,” he said adding that Barisan Nasional should not be presented with issues that it can exploit now that the general election is looming.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Anything and everything BUT ending the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA eh? Karpal has become the Hairdressers/Barber’s Association President or State Chinese Association Prsident now? This sort of case is even below the Chinese or Indian Chamber of Commerce or State Chinese Association to address (while in the same breath, we must be aware that the Chinese or Indian Chamber of Commerce, State Chinese Association, probably can’t even talk about the APARTHEID oF BUMIPUTERA because they do not have parliamentary immunity – maybe a provision for them to also be granted parliamentary immunity?) , but somehow Karpal can’t talk about the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA in spite of parliamentary immunity so this is a great opportunity to look busy while the minoriites remain second class citizens . . . look here ‘Karpal’ if you don’t want to put that Parliamentary Immunity to good use, please give up that decades long seat you’re wasting the Rakyats’s mandate on, to somebody who will use the same to try to end the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA and lack of :

Is Karpal a REAL lawyer and aware of the responsibility of an MP to the people? Most Malays and Muslims, probably also the Sultans know in their hearts that apartheid is wrong and that technically in Islam the APARTYHEID of BUMIPUTERA is ILLEGAL. Why does Karpal not HONESTLY and legally challenge the racists and Islamists on these facts? Self serving much? Too many family members, too many contracts colluded on? So does the rakyat need this kind of MP or perhaps has karpal and Sons family bloc spent too much time hoodwinking the Rakyat? An MP’s job goes far beyond this hair issue, like for Human Rights Articles 1 and 18 . . . do something useful or MP-like, or GTFO of Dewan!

Mediocre! And in overall effectiveness, Karpal is but a decades long malingerer on the taxpayer dollar alongside BN’s racism and corrupted worst …

Indian leaders may jump ship if they are not picked as candidates in the coming general election, says a source.

Infighting, backbiting and sabotaging among Indian leaders in PKR could result in the party losing Indian support at the upcoming 13th general election.

The internal rift among these leaders could also play a role in thwarting Pakatan Rakyat’s ambition of taking over the federal government after the polls. The opposition pact is made of PKR, DAP and PAS.

Speaking to FMT, a PKR source admitted that there would be “major party hopping” among Indians in PKR before and after the general election.

Declining to be named, the source said many Indians in the party were waiting for PKR to officially announce its list of Indian candidates to contest under the PKR banner in the coming general election.

“If their names are overlooked as a candidate, then they would jump ship to the Barisan Nasional or quit PKR without joining anyone… they have already made plans to this effect.”

“Unlike PAS and DAP which have a long tradition and faithful members, PKR is a new set-up. Most of its members are from BN component parties. They ran from there to PKR. They ran because they were sidelined in their respective BN component parties. So when the same thing happens here, they would run again,” said the source.

He said the problem among Indian leaders in PKR is “everyone wants a seat to contest”.

“Of course, both Malays and Chinese in PKR also face the same scenario but Indians are the worst,” said the source, who is very close to the party leadership.

He said PKR Indian leaders in their eagerness to win brownie points have also resorted to “attacking” each other in the mainstream media.

Tip of the iceberg

“Some are sending their supporters to Parliament to lobby for seats. For example, I was told that more than 60 candidate profiles have been submitted for the Bukit Melawati state seat in Selangor despite the incumbent M Mutiah declaring interest in defending the seat.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. The factions in the party are heading for a showdown,” the source said.

He claimed that PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim had often met party Indian leaders to get feedback on ways to boost Indian support for Pakatan, but not much was done on the ground to put the plans into action.

“But, this is not enough to woo Indian votes. The Indian leaders in the party are not united. If they are, then they can put up a strong front and lobby for votes of the community. There are several camps within the party and each camp is pressuring Anwar for seats.

Mukhriz (centre bottom), is not a Pakatan MP, just included to show possible phenotype similarities between politicians who benefited from nepotism if any . . .

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Indian candidates are you idiots? Who needs to pressure Anwar? Any independent candidate can run for any seat without pressuring anyone. The whole idea of a political party is to keep all MPs captive to the supreme council. Podah!

ARTICLE 4

‘Anwar is an attention seeker’ – Friday, 23 November 2012 Super Admin

Several BN leaders are appalled at Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s attempt to get Australia to observe Malaysia’s general election.

G Vinod, FMT

An MIC leader today chided Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim for seeking attention, especially with his call to Australia to observe the coming general election.

MIC vice-president SK Devamany was referring to Anwar’s move to request the Australian government recently to observe the polls, claiming there were a lot of irregularities in the electoral roll.

However, Australia’s Foreign Minister Bob Carr had rejected the former deputy prime minister’s request, saying they cannot and would not influence how Malaysia runs its election.

“It’s very hard for Australia to do anything about how they’re run, as hard as it would be for Malaysia or another government to have a say in how Australian elections are run.

“We’re not the election authority for Malaysia,” Carr was reported as saying.

Taking Anwar to task, Devamany said that times have changed and the world community is watching each other’s conduct in the information age.

“No point trying to seek attention from other people. They are watching us all the time,” he said.

As for Anwar’s accusation, the deputy minister said that the Barisan Nasional government is transparent and the former could always voice his grouses to the EC.

“He can always use his position as the opposition leader to get things done. But being the attention seeker he is, Anwar will devise new tactics to keep himself relevant.

“No wonder some Pakatan Rakyat leaders are seeking PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang to become prime minister if the opposition bloc wins the federal polls,” said Devamany.

Risk of being colonised again

Echoing Devamany’s sentiments, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) president M Kayveas said that it was dangerous to get foreign powers to be involved in Malaysia’s election.

He also said that with foreign powers’ aid, the party benefiting from them would be indebted to the former and thus, put Malaysia at risk of being “colonised” again.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

To prevent the colonisation factor, NO foreign government based groups people should to be invited keep tabs on the elections, BUT *ELECTION WATCHDOG GROUPS* from foreign and Australian and other non-Western governments should instead. In fact Australian Elections and other Western nations could do with foreign watchdog groups from other countries ESPECIALLY those not particularly friendly to Australia, to prevent fifth columnists manipulating votes to the favour of their own government. Who knows what collusion goes on between governments these days? Foreign governments cannot monitor without compromising the sovereignty of the monitored state.

Instead, unaffiliated to government/unfunded by government civil society WATCHDOG NGOs favouring opposition would be safest. Anwar thus could be in cahooots with the current majority Australian government with the same feigning disinterest. Now if watchdog groups unfriendly to their respective foreign governments were to be called on as monitors, having nothing to gain, these groups would be the most objective choice. This accusation could be avoided simply by Anwar contacting non-mainstream foreign monitors instead. As for attention seeking, 2 terms as MP limits should put paid to that sort of thing once and for all. For expedience, Anwar could be tolerated for now, but the next great purging of politicians will not be those corrupt, opaque and racist (BN era) but those NEPOTISTIC and TERM LIMITLESS (PR era). This would be true progress then to prevent a Mubarak, Gaddafi or Ali Salleh from forming out of term limitless Anwars and Lim Kit Siangs or whatever groups.

(Bernama) – Lawyer Karpal Singh, acting for applicant Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, told the High Court here Friday that the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 had completely prohibited the right to assemble, by way of street protest.

The senior lawyer said the provision under Section 4(1)(c) was not intended to “restrict” but more to “prohibit” the right to assemble.

“Any street protest, actually, was a moving assembly and the Act should not completely prohibit it,” contended Karpal by pointing out on the provision of Section 4(1)(c) of the Act, which he argued, was inconsistent and contravened with the provision of Article 10 (1)(b) of the Federal Constitution.

He said the Act defined a street protest as an assembly that was in movement.

“Even Article 10(1)(b) clearly stated that all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably, without arms,” he noted.

He further submitted that the word, ‘restriction’, should be interpreted as reasonable restriction as stated in Article 10, and the constitution was the supreme law of the country.

“Any law passed after Merdeka Day, which is inconsistent with the constitution, should be declared void,” said Karpal, who urged Justice Kamardin Kashim to allow Anwar’s application with costs.

Kamardin set Nov 30, for respondent (prosecution) to reply to the applicant’s submission Friday.

In a related development, Anwar’s co-counsel, Ram Karpal Singh, said if the court ruled in Anwar’s favour, one of the charges under the Peaceful Assembly Act would be dropped, leaving only two charges still pending at the Sessions Court.

Anwar, 64, together with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, 48, and Rembau PKR branch chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin (third accused), 34, were charged last May 22, with taking part in street demonstrations which allegedly led to chaos in the city.

The three also faced a second charge of conniving with Tangam Raju, Rajesh Kumar Gejinder and Farhan Ibrahim, by inciting them to remove steel barricades at Jalan Raja here on the same day.

They are the first to be charged under Section 4(2)(c) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, which carries a fine of up to RM10,000, upon conviction.

Last July 2, the trio were charged with conspiring with Tangam, Rajesh, Farhan and five or more supporters of ‘Gabungan Pilihan Raya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih 3.0)’ to defy a magistrate’s court order dated April 26, against holding a rally at Dataran Merdeka from April 28 until May 1, this year.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Excuse me. No citizen needs to ‘assemble’ or riot IF our worthless waste of time nepotistic term limitless MPs (Karpal included) make the effort to end Bumiputra Apartheid or are not corrupt. This assembly thing is USELESS and has no weight legally. The wishes of 26 million Malaysians could be stopped by 222 self serving nepotistic and term limitless MPs simply because not enough Malaysians dare to be independents, there is always 3rd Force but even 3rd Force must respect term limits and preferably allow 1-Man-1-Vote systems in ratifying laws or at least ratifying laws on a district by district level.

An MP legally challenging the inequality and apartheid has more weight than 26 million Malaysians illegally marching. Is Karpal a false flag MP? Any and all Malays and other minorities who believe in neutrality and equality by changing the ILLEGAL and DISCRIMINATIVE Constitutional clauses and laws should give term limitless farces like Karpal here the boot. I’d DROP the right to peacefully assembly in exchange for ending APARTHEID and the below 3 items. Now think, which MP is worth voting for. The one who gives you the ‘right to assemble‘ which is the ‘precursor to riot‘ (there is nothing assembling can do, so frustrated assemblers end up RIOTING) but has no effect on policy, or the MP who grants equality and end of apartheid on your behalf so you do not need to march?

Previously, we reported how Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s oppositions leader has been “framed” with several sex tapes HERE.

While Anwar Ibrahim has denied he is the porn star featured in those sex tapes, it’s very obvious these explicit videos which you can watch below and read more here, are either recorded or simply made up and released with only one thing in mind … Political Assassination.

It’s designed to end the political career of Anwar Ibrahim and to kill the fragile oppositions of Malaysia,which is fighting to boot out the legacy government left behind by Asia’s most corrupt dictator, Mahathir Mohamad, and allegation that can never be proven simply because everything including the judiciary is answerable to only one man in Malaysia ie. the Prime Minister … and yes, it’s that absurd.

The country is currently helm by son of an ex-premier, who himself is laden with all sort of scandalous allegations including corruption and even … MURDER !

I love Malaysia.

Below is the latest “satire” from a pro-government newspaper (Fact: all newspaper in Malaysia are required by law to report only pro-government news. There is no press freedom in Malaysia.)

Go here if you just wanna know more about the sex scandal.

Swimming against the tide

By Joceline Tan @ Star Malaysia

The free Rolls Royce offer to any Anwar Ibrahim look-alike out there has gone unclaimed and US experts have verified the sex video to be authentic. What now for the leader of the Opposition?

NOBODY has claimed the Rolls Royce that is currently stretched out like a sexy lady on the porch of Zamil Ibrahim’s house.

The former PKR politician does not see anyone coming forward now that the country’s most talked-about sex video has been found to be authentic.

Zamil, who is now the Kedah chief of the new political party Kita, said he decided to put his prized wheels on the line because he became sick and tired of hearing claims that the man in the video was merely someone who looks like Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Posh car: No takers for the sleek and beautiful Rolls Royce which is still sitting on the porch of Zamil’s house in Kedah. Inset: Zamil who loves the Rolls Royce.

“I couldn’t take any more of the nonsense that it was an Anwar look-alike,” he said.

Zamil loves the beautiful vintage Rolls the way some Malay men love their second wives. Nevertheless, he was prepared to hand over the Rolls to the person whom Anwar’s supporters claimed had been the Anwar look-alike in the video. It was one of those droll manoeuvres loaded with political irony.

But deep down, Zamil is relieved the car will remain his. It is very similar to the Rolls Royce owned by no less than Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud except that Zamil’s is in better condition. The engine purrs, the dashboard gleams with polish and the leather seats are in a plush taupe.

Just a fortnight ago, a Chinese friend borrowed the car for his son’s wedding. Zamil loaned the car plus his own driver because he did not want unfamiliar hands at the wheel.
Up against the wall: The sex video episode has reached a pivotal point and Pakatan parties are preparing to move on without Anwar who is seen here officiating at a new PKR branch in Kubang Pasu, Kedah.

There has been no love lost between Zamil and Anwar since the day Zamil claimed he was played out by Anwar over a position in PKR. Unfortunately for Anwar, Zamil does not take broken promises lightly and his quest for vengeance is far from over. A few days ago, Zamil lodged a police report on the police report that Anwar made to deny that he is the man in the video. Zamil’s contention is that Anwar had lodged a false police report.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the sex video scandal exploded back in March. The so-called Datuk Trio comprising Tan Sri Rahim Thamby Chik, Datuk Eskay Abdullah and Datuk Shuib Ismail has been charged and convicted. Expert opinion from the US is that the video is genuine and the man in it was reported to be “99.99% Anwar.”

End of story? Not quite – the end is still nowhere in sight for this controversial sex video.

“We have passed the climax but this thing has the look of an epic,” said film-maker and Umno blogger Syed Azidi Syed Aziz, who is better known by his blogging name Kickdefella.

Talk is rife of a few more videos in the wings, as well as an explosive photograph. The Datuk Trio is not the sort of people you would want to fool around with, as PKR politician and Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul has learnt.

Johari, who was among the first people the Trio invited to view the video, recently found himself the collateral damage in the controversy. Johari has been going about denying that it is Anwar but last week, the PKR side released a video which featured Johari rubbishing the Trio and the sex video. His account was obviously timed to coincide with the Trio’s court conviction.

The Trio reacted by unleashing footage of Johari watching the sex video during which he appeared to acknowledge that it was Anwar. Johari did not come out very well from it and, if he knows better, this was just a warning from the Trio.

They obviously have more stuff than what has been seen to date given how cocksure they have been about their claims and actions as well as their willingness to swear on the Quran in the mosque.

But whether the Trio comes up with more of the same is not going to matter very much from now.

The sex video episode has reached a pivotal point with the conviction of the Trio and the authentication of the video. For months, Pakatan politicians had challenged the authorities to charge the Trio, and their conviction has taken the fire out of Pakatan’s artillery.

Pakatan politicians have generally ducked the issue of whether the video was authentic or fake. Only one DAP politician had called for the video to be authenticated. He was quietly asked to shut up and no other Pakatan figure has since made such demands.

Their standard line of defence has been that this is “politik lucah” or vulgar politics while PAS took the Islamic and diplomatic way out by insisting that such cases require four witnesses. Very few of them have put their reputation on the line to say that it is not Anwar. Johari is one of them.

But there are still people out there who do not want to accept that the video is authentic despite the tests and analyses by the academic institute in the US.

At the same time, not all of those who agree that the man is Anwar approve of the entrapment. They feel that political victory or defeat should take place via a political contest rather than through sex traps.

But it is increasingly difficult for Pakatan and especially PKR politicians to go on insisting that it is not Anwar.

When asked about this, a PKR official would only say: “Let the public decide whether they believe the 99.99% finding.”

Some people think Anwar is finished. Actually, he is far from finished but fewer people now think he is going to be the next Prime Minister – or even that he is Prime Minister material.

A serious matter

“Non-Muslims regard this as a private matter. But for us Muslims, it is a serious thing. I haven’t seen the video but my friends have seen it and they can decide for themselves,” said a top PAS figure.

Anwar’s problem is the growing element of doubt among the swing group, especially the Malay middle ground. The hardcore supporters on either side will remain where they are; it is the swing group that Pakatan has to be worried about.

Anwar probably feels it when he goes on the ceramah circuit. The crowds are there but he knows they are also checking out his belly, his chest and even his nose as they are listening to him. Fortunately, his stomach is quite flat now that he has lost so much weight and is looking rather gaunt.

The sex video, for one, has been a top topic at the ceramah series organised by the Pasir Salak division. Umno ceramah can be quite boring affairs but this one not only had the crowd’s attention but had them tickled too.

At one ceramah, the speaker said that given the sex-related incidents associated with the opposition leader, “the whole thing is beginning to look like a hobby.”

“Hobbies are okay, but people with this type of hobby, it’s better they don’t try to become the Prime Minister,” said the speaker.

Another speaker said: “Many of us have seen the video, the experts have said it is real, we know it’s him, what else is there to argue. Only the PAS leaders are still arguing as though they know everything, as if they were in the bedroom, under the bed.”

The ceramah series is the brainchild of Pasir Salak Umno politician Dr Faizal Tajuddin who wanted to counter and neutralise the string of ceramah by PAS, which has been parading its latest celebrity recruit, Bob Lokman, the Malay rocker who said he joined PAS because he wanted to go to heaven.

The main target is PAS but the sex video is one of the bullets being used by Dr Faizal’s team.

Many are also waiting to see whether Anwar’s wife and daughter, both politicians, will come forward to defend him again now that the video has been vetted as genuine. The family is said to have been in turmoil since the video surfaced in March but they have no choice but to keep up a united front.

It is quite clear by now that Anwar needs Pakatan more than Pakatan needs him. He was a superhero in the aftermath of March 2008 but Pakatan is now shouldering him through his personal problems.

Anwar’s nemesis, Kita president Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, put it quite bluntly when he said the opposition has been “utterly compromised” by Anwar and that the latter is “destroying the credibility of the opposition.”

Zaid was equally critical of the authority’s handling of the sex video, describing it as “foolish and clumsy”, all of which added up to what he described as “the tragedy of Malaysian politics.”

Pakatan leaders know it as well. Privately, they are already talking of a revived role for Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah in the near future. Dr Wan Azizah has been playing the role of dutiful wife rather than PKR president but Pakatan leaders are ready to accept her if Anwar is indisposed.

“Kak Wan will still lead. We can work with her even though she is not up to mark,” said the same PAS figure.

PKR deputy president Azmin Ali is experienced and capable but the Pakatan leaders are still uncomfortable with him. Rising star Nurul Izzah is ambitious but still very green and her haste to be noticed has seen her mired in embarrassing boo-boos such as claiming that the Malaysian submarine could not dive whereas it has dived to its maximum depth off the coast of Sabah with no less than the King onboard.

Recently, Anwar claimed he had the clout to call off the Bersih rally if he wanted to, implying he was still in charge. The rally’s figurehead leader Datuk S. Ambiga immediately shot back that the rally is on.

It was a slap in the face for Anwar. The Bersih rally is basically a PAS show and it is the clearest sign that Anwar’s centrestage placing in Pakatan politics has been hijacked by PAS.

Moreover, the new PAS battle cry is “PAS ganti Umno”, the implication being that PAS has the ability to replace Umno and that can only mean one thing – PAS is positioning itself to dominate in the general election and claim the Prime Ministership.

Pakatan parties are preparing to move on without Anwar. His role as an intermediary between PAS and DAP is quite redundant now that the Erdogans are in charge in PAS. The Erdogans speak the same political language as DAP leaders and they can sit at the same table with DAP.

There is even talk that if Anwar cannot defend Permatang Pauh in the next general election, Nurul Izzah will go there since the election law disqualifies Dr Wan Azizah from contesting a seat which she resigned from.

The days when Anwar could walk on water are over. He is swimming against the current.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This is an old article, but lookalikes can be easily created given the amount of funds BN has. They could get the nearest looking lookalike ‘Anwar’ add abit of plastic surgery or anyone in the opposition and make them do all kinds of porn for release in the internet EVERY week or make the fakes ‘say things’ that are politically destructive which will be presented as insider records etc.. Chua Soi Lek could have been smart enough to dodge the bullet but chose to be honest, bravo, but a person who would be honest about invasion of privacy vids, yet not want to challenge apartheid is an oxymoron of sorts. As for Pakatan, the problem still stands and very clearly that Pakatan is a CLOSED party. I have at least tried quite indirectly to sound Pakatan out, and noted the extreme fear and prevention of ‘outside’ forces taking over. Then after Pakatan’s sacrifice of Teo Beng Hock, perhaps was best that some of us were not invited to join anyway. After doing the scrimmage work, the least that some politicians could have done was not betray their would-be supporters to the psychiatric establishment . . .

2 sides of the same Rakyat oppressive coin?

We’d be better off setting up a 3rd Force party to remove the cynical apartheid tolerating hudud accepting guys with similar looking wives (Betty and Rosmah might as well be the same person), drop 50% of DAP’s nepotists I say . . . those undemocratic creeps are very harmful to the country, as is any who are term limitless and nepotistic and refuse to make clear on :

;while touting Hudud or an Islamist party PAS par excellence Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. These Islamists are all the same IMHO, when courting the voters, they say nice things but after gaining power, they turn all Islamist and start persecuting everyone. MCA, MIC, Gerakan and PPP however have entirely failed to seperate from BN to lead 3rd force which I list below :

Proposed 3rd Force Party

End the APARTHEID and drop the racists. or get the racists to drop apartheid if BN wants GE13. Other than that, the mandate which is unused as of now would likely become Pakatan’s, a much worse option in many ways.

ARTICLE 7

Pakatan must do more for Penang Malays – Saturday, 24 November 2012 Super Admin

The Malays in Penang want a Malay Deputy Chief Minister to look after their interests

To this, the congress’ president Rahmad Isahak said it was becoming clear that both PKR and PAS have failed to maintain Pakatan Rakyat’s hold on the Malays.

Hawkeye, FMT

The Penang Malay Congress has called on DAP to consider appointing a Malay to become the next Deputy Chief Minister (DCM) I if the present leader, PKR’s Mansor Othman, relinquishes the post in favour of contesting a parliament seat.

The rumour mill is working overtime in Penang now since PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim announced last week that Mansor, a party vice-president, will contest the Nibong Tebal parliament seat.

The seat is presently held by Tan Tee Beng who had won the seat under the PKR banner in 2008 but has since become an Independent.

Anwar declined to comment on whether Mansor will be allowed to defend his present Penanti state seat on the mainland.

To this, the congress’ president Rahmad Isahak said it was becoming clear that both PKR and PAS have failed to maintain Pakatan Rakyat’s hold on the Malays.

Moving Mansor out of Penang, stengthens the congress’ belief that Pakatan is concerned about the Malay ground here and confirms that the Malay electorate is disappointed with them, Rahmad said.

Mansor has been underfire for the last three years for failing to champion Malay issues well, and he is often seen as being subservient to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

To arrest an alleged decline in Malay support, Rahmad said Pakatan needs to revamp its present leadeship allocation.

A Malay DAP candidate, who wins in the next election, should instead be made the DCM I as this will demonstrate to the people that the party is committed to the Malays, Rahmad said.

Talk is that Penang DAP will consider fielding at least two Malay candidates here to challenge the perception among the Malay community that it is a Chinese party.

DAP’s failure to field any Malays may also give rise to a number of independent candidates – sponsored by Malay civil groups where 23 organisations have sprouted up in Penang since 2008.

Rahmad said the Malays in Penang have become restless due to the inability of the DAP-led state government to effectively address their socio-economic issues.

The community’s grouses are over the lack of affordable housing, erosion of their heritage and culture values, made worse by the demolition of traditional villages on the island and the lack of quality jobs despite a record number of fresh investments.

“If you ask a critically minded Malay if they support Pakatan, they remain speechless. It is not because Pakatan failed them, it is because the issues of the community has gone unnoticed by the inexperienced government for the past four years.”

The Malay dilemma

The Malays are now venting their anger on PKR and PAS for failure to convince DAP over the critical need to look at the community’s issues.

Even during Barisan’s era, the Malay community here has been stirring up issues and expressing their anger, Rahmad said in an interview.

The Malays are in a dilemma here because if they support Pakatan, there is a preception out there that their issues will not be effectively resolved unless a strong-willed Malay leader is appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister I, Rahmad said.

On the other hand, it is pointless to support Umno as the party is part of the Barisan Nasional coalition, which is finding it increasingly difficult to regain acceptance in Penang, he said.

;so that the minorities will not care what race the CM is. Frankly Penang has had a minority CM for too long, on the other hand ALL OTHER Sultanate led STATES have had Malay MBs for too long as well. The door swings both ways . . .

ARTICLE 8

Najib: Change can happen with the same government – by Ida Lim – November 24, 2012

Najib addresses the crowd at the Barisan 1 Malaysia gathering at the Putra World Trade Centre who respond by raising one finger. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — A change in government is not necessary for changes in the country, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today.

The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) is ready to change, said Najib, who is also chairman of the 13-member coalition.

“… BN is not a party that is inflexible. We are ready to change.

“Change can happen in our country and we have proven that not necessarily we change government, but we can bring big change with the same government,” Najib said at the Barisan 1 Malaysia gathering at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here.

He also hinted that the government may give more cash handouts to the people if the country is well-managed.

He was speaking about the government’s financial aid to the working class and other sections of society, such as giving out tyres to taxi drivers and cash handouts to singles under the Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M) 2.0 scheme, before hinting that more handouts were possible.

“Boleh lagi. We (can) give more in the future with the condition that our country is managed well.

“And all these we are able to do because in the past four years, we have proven that this is not an empty promise…” Najib said.

;no change can be expected. BN has the mandate to grant the above now. Why has BN not used that mandate to grant the above? This proves there will be no change. The above 3 items cost nothing to implement.

NOV 19 — Unless appropriate formal and equitable engagement mechanisms are put in place, civil society will be not be in a position to effectively advocate for and ensure the protection of human rights in the region. This is the lesson to be gleaned from the adoption of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) yesterday (November 18) during the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The inability of civil society organisations (CSOs) to meaningfully engage with members of ASEAN over the establishment of institutional and normative human rights frameworks to date explains the limited effectiveness of their advocacy in securing a real protection mechanism for the people of ASEAN.

Much of the discussion emerging from yesterday’s release of AHRD has focused on the criticism by CSOs over the lack of adherence to international human rights standards and the rejoinder by ASEAN governmental representative that the tone of the current AHRD is what is politically feasible now within the regional grouping. But the root problem remains the lack of access of CSOs to the inter-governmental process that has crafted institutional mechanisms and the AHRD.

Over the last two years, CSOs seeking to advance the protection of human rights in the nascent ASEAN human rights regime have been confronted with a regional association and member governments that are still deeply wedded to the principle of non-interference and the primacy of national laws.

Beginning with the ASEAN Charter in 2008, which promised the establishment of a human rights body, CSOs have been pressuring member governments to adopt a mechanism that would speak to international standards and include a protection mechanism. At each step towards formalising a regional mechanism, for example in 2009 in the run up to the drafting of the Terms of Reference for the AICHR and now in 2012 in the drafting of AHRD, CSOs have tried their level best to engage with ASEAN but in vain.

On the adoption of the ADHR in Phnom Penh on November 18, CSO criticisms of the declaration continued unabated. While Singapore’s Representative to the AICHR, Chang Heng Chee, hailed the advent of the “peer-review” mechanism and the ADHR as “the best that could be done” in the social and political context, the CSO exclusion from the process of crafting a human rights regime remains a blatant fact.

Some 60 CSOs wrote to ASEAN leaders requesting the postponement of the signing given serious flaws in the document. Echoing strongly their comments, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, also called for the same and has stated: “I am surprised and disappointed that the draft declaration has not been made public and that civil society has not been consulted in the drafting of the document.”

Poignant criticisms have pointed to AHRD failings to meet existing international standards and the risks of creating a sub-standard level of rights protection in the region.

Pillay has cited as an example the provision on the right to life which, she said, should not be contingent on domestic laws that can be used to justify state-sponsored violence. Further, ASEAN governments want the enjoyment of rights to be balanced with the “performance of duties” and be subject to “national and regional contexts”.

Rights in the region therefore stand to be restricted on a wide range of grounds, including “national security” and “public morality”. The declaration is further criticised for having too many loopholes that may permit states to bypass international standards. Even Surin Pitsuwan, speaking at the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, admitted: “This document can be improved upon.”

On such substantive matters critical to the well-being of all ASEAN citizens, CSOs have been confronted with ASEAN member-states’ strategy of selective and limited engagement with CSOs to date over the establishment of a human rights regime in the region. The entire project of crafting a human rights regime is pursued purely as an inter-governmental activity.

With no institutionalised mechanism for consultation, CSO engagement has only been accommodated on a piece-meal basis and only because of the tireless advocacy, persistence and pressure by regional CSOs. This state of affairs has neutralised CSOs’ ability to advocate successfully for the protection of human rights in the region.

Such a purely inter-governmental approach is entirely out of step with how inter-governmental organisations such as the UN, the EU and the OAS conduct their own inter-governmental activities. In those mechanisms civil society is mainstreamed into the human rights processes.

In addition to concern over core substantive dilemmas — the lack of real protection of human rights and the failure to meet international standards — the real subtext is the fact that civil society has not been mainstreamed as it should be. Lack of such mainstreaming undermines ASEAN’s own call for a more people-centred community.

Civil society organisations, which have historically played a vital role in advancing the protection of human rights globally, and the media (traditional and new), must continue and intensify their push for more transparency in the ASEAN human rights regime, for the respect of international commitments already binding upon ASEAN states, for the respect for universal standards under the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and for real protection of fundamental rights.

When it comes to the development of human rights in the region, the lack of genuine consultation with CSOs by ASEAN’s member governments reflects the marginalisation of one of the important sectors within the member states. A formal consultation mechanism is vital to the protection of human rights in the region and to the creation of a more people-centred ASEAN.

* Drs James Gomez (Thammasat University) and Robin Ramcharan (Queen’s University Center for International Relations) are authors of the paper “The Protection of Human Rights in Southeast Asia: Improving the Effectiveness of Civil Society Advocacy”.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

At very least allow ALL activites for registered persons in restricted zones for a start.

From the Biblical book of Proverbs (15.33), it says: “The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honour.”

The Qur’an (7:94) reads as follows: “Whenever We sent a Prophet to a society, We took up its people in suffering and adversity, in order that they might learn humility.”

One seeking honour must have an attitude of humility and recognising his responsibility to others must be his priority. One such personality among the ordinary citizens is the incumbent PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang.

In his speech at the recent 58th Muktamar PAS in Kelantan, he said, “To become the prime minister is not my aim in politics. I would rather be a slave to the people.”

Be that as it may, the consensus among Pakatan allies is that Anwar Ibrahim will be made the prime minister in the event of the coalition taking over Putrajaya in the 13th general election. Of course, this is not going to make UMNO’s supreme mentor, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, happy.

And Anwar – with his credentials, experience and international exposure – is considered by majority Malaysians to be the most qualified man to head the government.

Becoming a leader is a huge responsibility

As a devout Muslim, Hadi is aware that becoming a leader is a huge responsibility (amanah). As such, he said that “let a prime minister be a person from among those entrusted by the rakyat, who could carry out his duty in good conscience and is blessed by God”.

This unmistakeably testifies that PAS advocates the principle of democracy in politics and the tussle to become the prime minister if Pakatan takes over Putrajaya in the next election does not exist at all.

In fact, according to political observers, there is no issue of any political scrimmage within the Pakatan coalition on the issue of who shall become the prime minister. The understanding on this issue has been generally accepted by all the three parties in Pakatan – PAS, PKR and DAP.

PAS and Pakatan Rakyat are not facing a dearth of leaders. Within PAS there are many among them who have a good religious background, are professional and also well-versed with the economy that could be entrusted to lead the nation.

Notably among them are scientist-cum-economist Dzulkefly Ahmad the Member of Parliament for Kuala Selangor, former deputy governor of Bank Negara, economist and consultant Rosli Yaakop and former Menteri Besar of Perak Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, a Member of Parliament and engineer by profession.

Unpretentiousness is the ethos found among PAS leaders. Political pundits have this to say: Even if a leader from PAS is appointed as prime minister this will not be a cause to worry among the non-Muslims. At present two states in the country have Menteri Besar from PAS – Kelantan and Kedah.

They have performed relatively well in the economic governance of the states even though they come from a religious background.

Nizar was chosen

But the best narration that could allay the fears of non-Muslims over PAS is that of what ensued in Perak in 2008. On 8 March 2008, the Pakatan Rakyat coalition in Perak won 31 seats of the 59 seat Perak State Assembly, which enabled it to form the state government with a simple majority.

The DAP commanded the most seats out of the 31 seats held by Pakatan Rakyat and were initially the claimants to the post of Menteri Besar. However, the Perak State Constitution stipulates that the menteri besar must be of Malay descent, and a non-Malay could only be appointed by a royal waiver by the Perak Palace.

To resolve this, all three parties sent their nominations for the menteri besar post to the Regent of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah. Reluctant Nizar was chosen over Ngeh Koo Ham of the DAP and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi of PKR on 12 March 2008 and he sworn in on 17 March 2008 at Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar.

Nizar from PAS ended up working harmoniously with all the coalition members and proved himself to become a popular menteri besar although his stint as the chief of Perak government was short-lived (17 March 2008 – 12 May 2009). This was after a controversial takeover of the State by Barisan in 2009 when three Pakatan assemblymen left the coalition to become Barisan-friendly.

On 11 May 2009, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that the Sultan could not constitutionally remove Nizar from office, and that Nizar had always been the rightful menteri besar. However, Nizar at the end of the day lost the legal proceedings when, in February 2010, the Federal Court ruled Zambry Abdul Kadir from Barisan to be the lawful menteri besar.

In the same year Nizar from PAS won the Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election with a thumping victory over the Barisan candidate (Ismail Safian) that made him a member of parliament. He clinched the support of Malays and majority non-Malays in the by-election.

Nizar proved himself as a capable and well-liked menteri besar by all the races in Perak though he represented PAS – an Islamic party. He proved himself that he could handle the state with humility, integrity and fairness.

Thus, a PAS man becoming a leader of a state or nation should not become an issue in multi-racial and democratic Malaysia.

Chua Soi Lek as prime minister

Mahathir, in a media report, was cynical when he proposed that Karpal Singh – DAP Chief, a prominent lawyer and Member of Parliament – be chosen as the prime minister in the case Pakatan wins the next general election. This must be akin to suggesting Chua Soi Lek, the MCA President to become the prime minister within the Barisan rank.

By virtue of Mahathir’s statement, if Karpal can become the prime minister of Malaysia there is no wrong then for Chua to be elevated as prime minister in Barisan. Perhaps, UMNO under their supreme guru, Mahathir, can ponder over this matter.

Mahathir insinuated that Pakatan is fractious when it comes to the appointment of a prime minister. Political observers opine that the man Mahathir fears most in life is Anwar. Anwar was ousted from the party in 1998 when Mahathir sensed that he would be sent to the political bin if he did not act fast enough on his ambitious nemesis.

Of course, Mahathir will be the most despondent man on earth if Anwar becomes the next prime minister of the country.

The country is now blessed with a two-party system and this bodes well for the people. There may be some minor differences in Pakatan as opposed to major squabbles in UMNO and Barisan.

UMNO has virtually decimated MCA, MIC and Gerakan by its Malay-centric approach to politics and is now all alone against the mounting crusade from Pakatan against Barisan.

The split in UMNO

Pakatan associates have not split to the extent of forming PKR Baru, DAP Baru or PAS Baru just to chase for the prime minister’s post.

In 1987, for the first time in twelve years, the incumbent President, Mahathir, was challenged by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah for the Presidency of UMNO. There was a forceful campaign to win the support of the approximately 1,500 delegates from party branches all over the country, who came to elect the party officers.

Some were even accused of money politics during the intense campaigns to decide who would be the president of UMNO and subsequently the prime minister of the country.

The official results declared Mahathir the winner, with 761 votes to Razaleigh’s 718. There was a major split in UMNO after that episode all because of “a prime minister’s post”. The vanquished was not happy and brought the matter to the Court.

UMNO was later declared as an illegal entity by the Court for having some “phantom” branches.

Soon after, UMNO Baru was born – laboriously “delivered” by Mahathir – and Razaleigh left UMNO to form Semangat46. This split in UMNO has remained until today. And Razaleigh until now has not given up his hope to become the prime minister.

As Hadi said, “Becoming a leader is not because one desires to become one. It must be with the blessings of God and with the consent and support of the majority”.

Buzz is now steeping

There are many more senior UMNO proponents tussling, including the Perkasa Chief who is ambitious, to become or be made the prime minister. The incumbent Deputy UMNO President, Muhyiddin Yassin, has his own supporters who would want him to challenge Najib Abdul Razak – the present yet to be endorsed UMNO president – to become the prime minister and this buzz is now steeping in the party.

And Mahathir will not leave this world a happy man until he could be assured that his son Mukhriz is in line to the throne as well. Ambitious Khairy Jamaluddin – UMNO Youth Chief who holds no ministerial post and is more noted for his penchant for football than the welfare of UMNO – who is not in the good book of Mahathir and Najib is also very keen to become prime minister.

It was reported that Khairy did at one time boast that he wanted to become the prime minister before the age 40. His hope however is dashed under the present UMNO set-up.

Another point that should be highlighted here is that money politics has become the malady affecting UMNO party members who have been jostling up the political ladder since 1981. This mucky, corrupt and irreligious norm is not found in PAS, PKR or DAP.

More perceptible within UMNO

Pro-UMNO media is playing up the issue as though Pakatan is split over the choice of a prime minister in the event of Pakatan winning the next general election but this is a non-issue to the non-Malays as well as the Malays.

UMNO and its supreme but unpopular advice-giver have failed to unnerve those who might be concerned about Pas leading a new federal government.

In a nutshell, all the hankering and throbbing to become prime minister is more perceptible within UMNO than any of the Opposition party.

Of course Hadi in a humble way “welcomed” the sincere proposal by the Ulama Wing Chief – a polite gesture on Hadi’s part to please the enthusiastic participants – that he be chosen to become the prime minister.

But wisdom prevailed in him, as he was quick to qualify that his aim in politics was not to become a prime minister. He even warned the participants of the risks of being desperately ambitious in politics.

He then aptly said, “Leadership is a huge trust and a big responsibility. Whoever becomes the prime minister is secondary. The good values of Islam should be upheld. A leader must be trustworthy, not corrupt, of high integrity and who could bring social justice to all Malaysians. And if this is achieved it is enough for me in this world.”

The rakyat have not heard this kind of humble statement springing from any UMNO leader since 1981.

Malaysia Chronicle

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

. . . Becoming a leader is a huge responsibility . . .

Bullsh1t! All an MP needs to do is amend laws en masse with other MPs, and GTFO of Dewan after the 2nd term so that some other Malaysian will have a chance to do some policy work. All the MPs of today do are argue, never forward useful bills and keep apartheid in place by not challenging what is Illegal in the Human Rights Charter and Islam and virtually every faith on the planet. Responbsibility is making CHANGE by ratifying good policy and forwarding amendments to policy. Not keep the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA in place (BN), threaten to destroy private property (Gambier Threat – DAP), destroy livilihood of the streetside petty traders (DAP), ask for 750K funerals (DAP), ask for raises for MP and Assemblyman salaries (DAP), or try to impose Hudud on Malaysians (PAS), especially non-Muslim Malaysians, or pass off 8% quorum party elections as valid (PKR) or 0.002% (300 out of 1.5 million) for EXCO posts.

The above makes today’s hateful term limitless and extremely nepotistic MPs, loudmouths without responsibility. ALL an MP needs to do is change a few things by putting a signature down which any street sweeper can happily do. So far nothing useful from either side, lots of mega contracts for 1% cronies but nothing concrete for the 99%.

. . . He then aptly said, “Leadership is a huge trust and a big responsibility. Whoever becomes the prime minister is secondary. The good values of Islam should be upheld. A leader must be trustworthy, not corrupt, of high integrity and who could bring social justice to all Malaysians. And if this is achieved it is enough for me in this world.” . . .

APTLY? Malaysian Chronicle converted to Islam lately? ‘The good values of Islam should be upheld.’ is the vaguest most threatening thing being said as much as President Morsi of Egypt’s ‘Absolutist Decree’ just recently. There are OTHER good values – of other fiaths, of democracy of HUMAN RIGHTS that too many religions attack constantly. WHAT THE HELL is apt about a potential crypto-Islamist statement like that given the neglect of 40% of the population’s seculars or non-Hudu Malays up to 80-95% of Malaysia’s population altogether?

Hadi has NOT addressed the seculars since ‘accepting the PMship’ a week or so ago – Morsi Style! please stop emboldening with this sort of collusion or laziness. Apt? Hadi has forgotten the 40% of non-Muslims and non-Malays as well as possibly 70% of the non-pro-Hudud Malays and Muslims. Malaysia Chronicle sure this can be called ‘APT’? Frankly Malaysian MPs are overpaid, even when a 900 minimum wage cannot be implemented, what business have MPs have to take 23K per month of taxpayer monies? MPs salaries are paid by the Rakyat, did any Rakyat say they deserve 23K? On a 1-Man-1-Vote vote, probably MPs will have their salaries LOWERED to no more than 10 times minimum annual wage which would likely be RM$9000, even as minimum wage of $900 already gets ALL MP’s dragging their feet . . . the Pakatan MPs are term limitless and nepotistic, do not care for the Rakyat, even as BN MPs continue apartheid . . . vote 3rd Force!

Proposed 3rd Force Party

ARTICLE 11

RPK: Do You Think I Give A Crap? – by RAJA PETRA KAMARUDIN – Monday, 05 November 2012 16:25

“More I read your articles, more I have an inclination that you really are on a BN payroll.” – @bengali kunday.

That was what a reader going by the nickname of ‘@bengali kunday’ said. Well, allow me to reply to that.

First of all, even if I am on the payroll of Barisan Nasional, so what? There are people like those in Malaysiakini, Malaysia Chronicle, and so on, who are on Pakatan Rakyat’s payroll. In fact, sites like Harakah and many others actually belong to and are financed by Pakatan Rakyat or parties within Pakatan Rakyat. And they do not hide that fact or are apologetic or ashamed about serving the interest of a political party, notwithstanding the fact that it is an opposition party.

Are you implying that it is okay to be on Pakatan Rakyat’s payroll but not okay to be on Barisan Nasional’s payroll? Are you also implying that democracy and freedom of choice and freedom of association means you must be on Pakatan Rakyat’s payroll but not on Barisan Nasional’s payroll?

What type of democracy is this when you are restricted to serving one party’s interest but not the other? What type of democracy is this when you have no freedom of choice or freedom of association and are obligated to serve one party’s interest but not the other?

You take the moral high ground whenever you feel that someone is serving Barisan Nasional’s interest but you do not demonstrate that same moral outrage if someone is on Pakatan Rakyat’s payroll. So-called ‘independent’ human rights organisations such as Suaram openly work for Pakatan Rakyat but that is not repulsive to you. Only if they serve Barisan Nasional’s interest is it repulsive.

Secondly, when I write articles very damaging to Barisan Nasional and Umno – such as my two recent articles this week in The Corridors of Power regarding Umno Sabah – you do not consider that as being on Pakatan Rakyat’s payroll. However, if I write just one article that is slightly uncomplimentary to Pakatan Rakyat (in fact, the article that I wrote in which you posted that comment is not even about Pakatan Rakyat or uncomplimentary to Pakatan Rakyat) you consider that as being on Barisan Nasional’s payroll.

To you Pakatan Rakyat supporters, the decent thing to do is to serve Pakatan Rakyat’s interest. Serving any other interest is an indecent thing to do. You decide the moral boundaries and limits of decency and anyone who does not pass your interpretation and yardstick of morality and decency is vilified. Who appointed you the guardian and trustee of morality and decency?

How different are you from the religionists who decide what is moral and what is decent and impose their standards of morality and decency on others? Since Muslims represent the majority population in Malaysia can Muslims then, going by the doctrine of democracy where majority rules, impose their Islamic interpretation of morality and decency on the minority?

Since the majority dictates the ground rules then surely what is compatible to Islam should prevail and anything repulsive to Islam should be barred. In that case the Islamic Sharia law, Hudud included, should be the law of the land. Muslims who are the majority in Malaysia should decide what is moral and what is decent and Islam must be the code of conduct that all Malaysians should live by.

Religionists such as Muslims, even if they are the majority in Malaysia, should not impose their will on Malaysians, even on fellow Muslims, let alone on the non-Muslims. So why should you impose your will on others? The believers of Islam should not vilify those who are not of the Muslim faith. Why should the believers of Pakatan Rakyat vilify those who are not of the opposition faith?

When misguided Muslims adopt the ‘either you are with us or you are against us’ religious doctrine, you find that revolting, indecent and immoral. But you can adopt the ‘either you are with us or you are against us’ political doctrine and it is not revolting, indecent and immoral.

What kind of hypocritical double standard is this? You resent it when others impose their will on you and when they decide what is tolerable, moral and decent. But you can impose your will on others and decide what is tolerable, moral and decent. Can you see the hypocrisy that is so thick you can cut it with a knife?

Do you think I care a sh** about Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat? Do you think I care a sh** whether Barisan Nasional retains power or Pakatan Rakyat gains power? Do you think my life is only about the general elections and about who gets to march into Putrajaya? That is a very narrow way to look at life.

Do you honestly think that my mission in life is to make sure that Barisan Nasional does not get kicked out? Do you honestly think that my mission in life is to ensure that Pakatan Rakyat gets to form the next federal government? You have a very narrow mission in life. Do not imagine that my mission in life is as narrow as yours.

Politicians are politicians, never mind from which side of the political divide. And the narrow objective of all politicians is merely to get into power. What makes you think that that is also my very narrow objective? If you think that then you have not been reading properly what I have been writing over these last 35 years.

You Pakatan Rakyat supporters are still too immature. And that is why Pakatan Rakyat is not ready to run the country. Pakatan Rakyat supporters first need to gain some maturity before Pakatan Rakyat can be allowed to form the federal government. You need to suffer another term under Barisan Nasional. This suffering might then wake you up and only when you wake up can we talk about a change of government.

Yes, do keep whacking me. Continue to vilify me. And when you do I will do everything within my power to make sure that the coming general election is going to result in a huge shock and disappointment for you.

Never give a flower to a monkey, the Malays would say. That is like throwing pearls to swine, the English say. And that is how I look at some of you Pakatan Rakyat supporters, monkeys and swine that are not ready to be entrusted with power.

So you want to fight. So let’s fight. I have nothing to lose because I don’t care a sh** which side is going to win the coming general election. That is what you want. That is not what I want. Just because that is what you want you have this mistaken notion that that is what I also want.

What stupid people you are. If I support Pakatan Rakyat then I am God. If I do not support Pakatan Rakyat then I am a Barisan Nasional stooge. Well, let me break it to you gently. I am neither God not a Barisan Nasional stooge. I am an independent-spirited individual who does not care a sh** about losers like you.

It is true that there are things that we Malaysians should be proud of, and be thankful for. It is equally true that many things are not well in our country. They have not been well for some time now.

Matters of safety and security, price hikes, education, issues of equal opportunities and equal treatment, constriction of various forms of freedom, marginalization of several segments of society, the failing justice system, corruption in the public sector, the rising denial syndromes, the arrogance of wrongdoers nourished by their repeated ability to get off scot-free, and the numbness of the public reaction towards misdeeds and the lack of accountability, just to describe a few.

Many of the ills that we complain about in our society are the symptoms of the underlying causes. Some of the major root causes are:

(a) epidemic corruption in a system that does little to prohibit or redress it,

(b) lack of a system of transparency and accountability,

(c) the suppression of various freedoms so as to turn a silent majority into a silenced majority,

(d) a Government that is more interested in commanding than serving,

(e) a Parliament whose overwhelming majority cares more about power-consolidation than nation-building, and

(f) a weak “last bastion” in the form of a failing justice system.

Breaking point

Can things be allowed to go on this way? Can we afford to do so?

Should our future generations suffer the consequences of our permissiveness?

It is quite obvious that we need a better Government and a better Parliament.

But that will not happen if we, the citizens of Malaysia , do little more than blaming the Government and criticizing our Members of Parliament. It is we who put our MPs in the Parliament. It is we who must take the ultimate responsibility.The buck stops at each and every one of us.

My earnest appeal to everyone is therefore as follows:

– discuss the need for a better Parliament and a better Government, with your family members, colleagues, friends and persons close to you;

– make it a point to go and vote in the next election, and to vote for change and for betterment; discard the notion or excuse that your single vote will not matter;

– discard the notion or excuse that politics is dirty and all politicians are the same, and therefore that there is no point in voting;

– influence and encourage as many of your family members, colleagues, friends and persons close to you as possible, to come out and vote for change and for betterment in the coming election.

Meaningless to gripe if you don’t VOTE

It is meaningless for us to complain about our Parliamentarians and the Government, if we do not first discharge a simple but sacrosanct duty of choice.

Let us all take the time to look into the beautiful but expectant eyes of our children, and of the children of many others for whom we care.

The future of our nation is meant for them. But millions of them cannot vote. They put their fate in our hands. They rely on us not just for their present living and support. They rely on us, too, to vote for a better future for them.

And after discharging our duty to vote, we must continue to be vigilant, and ensure that our elected representatives account for their actions, and make good their promises.

I humbly suggest to you that change and betterment are not empty dreams, if all of us play our respective parts. I invite you, and I urge you, to answer my appeal as set out above.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Yeo Yang Poh

(former Bar Council President)

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

So says the ‘great legal mind’ who propped up Mahathir’s racist corrupt government and sat silently while in power as Bar President while APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA and OPs Lallang went on. This legal beagle (no eagle even though was Bar Council President) Yeo Yang Poh entirely failed his watch, did not challenge Malaysia’s failed state throughout the 1970s to 1990s.

The legal fraternity worldwide should blackball this failure Yeo and also the Bar Council of today as well for not challenging apartheid. And now Yeo thinks that writing an ‘open letter’ will exhonerate such neglect and tacit approval of such Malaysian racism, corruption, illegal actions and general malaise? Liar and traitor to all Malaysian, traitor to minorities, traitor to ETHICS and the integrity of the legal system! Shame on Yeo Yang Poh for never raising the possibility of ending the APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA!

Malaysia Chronicle must be getting chronic to allow such people to post articles on their media article. Cynical media portal featuring cynical letters from supposed learned writers who sellout the 99% of citizens!

ARTICLE 13

DON’T BE SO ‘ULU’ UMNO: Stop the May 13 threats, have the GUTS to compete on level ground! – by Lim Kit Siang – Friday, 30 November 2012 15:44

The irresponsible threats raised by UMNO leaders at the 66th UMNO General Assembly of “May 13” and chaos if UMNO loses the 13th General Election, falsely claiming that Malays will lose political power and will be rendered “destitute in our own land”, is the best proof of the failure and hypocrisy of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia policy.

If the 1Malaysia Policy proclaimed by Najib after he became Prime Minister in in April 2009 is more than election gimmicks for votes in the 13GE, its philosophy “to create a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian will regard himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic status second” should have been the guiding spirit of speeches of UMNO/BN leaders and their party conferences.

But this is clearly not the case despite the onset of the 43rd month of Najib’s premiership, as illustrated by the 66th Umno General Assembly.

In the first place, an Umno/BN leader fully imbued by the 1Malaysia spirit of “Malaysian first and race, religion, geography or socio-economic status second” would never entertain any notion let alone utter any threat of May 13 or chaos regardless of the outcome of the forthcoming 13th general election, as anyone who could toy with any May 13 threat or warning of chaos because of the free democratic choice of Malaysians in the 13th general election has not only failed to imbibe the spirit of 1Malaysia, but is acting in a most disloyal and unpatriotic manner utterly heedless of the higher interests of the nation and the best future for the country.

Felled by own falsehoods

Such disloyal and unpatriotic notions is all the more reprehensible as they are built on despicable lies and falsehoods, that the defeat of UMNO in the 13th GE will result in the loss of political power of the Malays resulting in the Malays, to quote one speech: “..if we go down in this struggle, we do not have anything left. Pakatan will be brought down to their knees, and eventually become destitute in our own land”.

That fate may befall UMNO leaders – and that is if UMNO is incapable of reform even after being ousted from Putrajaya – but definitely it will not be the fate of the Malays.

This is because replacing UMNO/BN in Putrajaya will be the Pakatan Rakyat coalition comprising PKR, PAS and DAP – comprising Malaysians from all races, religions and regions representing the best interests of all.

Do MCA and the other BN component parties agree that if UMNO/BN loses in the 13GE, the Malays will lose political power?

MCA leaders are in fact saying the very opposite – telling the Chinese that if Pakatan Rakyat defeat UMNO/BN in the next general elections, the Chinese will lose even more political, economic, educational, socio-economic and citizenship rights!

Only the corrupt will lose power

Let UMNO and MCA leaders decide on one common message – whether it is the Malays or Chinese who will lose political power if UMNO/BN is replaced by Pakatan Rakyat in the 13GE.

The true answer is that it is not the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans who will lose political power but the UMNO-putras and their hangers-on in the other BN component parties – with ordinary Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region coming into their own to have rightful share in the decision-making process in a more democratic Malaysia.

It is time that UMNO and MCA leaders stop their irresponsible politics of “divide and rule” and compete with Pakatan Rakyat parties instead on “unite and rule” for a more democratic, just, prosperous and competitive Malaysia.

Lim Kit Siang is the DAP adviser & MP for Ipoh Timur

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Shaddap and GTFO of Dewan nepotistic term limitless creep!

DON’T BE SO ‘ULU’ DAP: Stop the APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA, have the GUTS to DEMAND level ground (below 3 items)!

Such disloyal and unpatriotic notions is all the more reprehensible as they are built on despicable lies and falsehoods, that the defeat of DAP in the 13th GE will result in the loss of political power of the Lim Family Bloc, Anwar Family Bloc and Karpal Family Blocs resulting in the family blocs, to quote one speech: “. . . if Pakatan goes down in this struggle, Pakatan does not have anything left. Pakatan will be(ing) brought down to their knees, and eventually become destitute in Pakatan’s own constituencies” to the empowerment of 3rd Force and the very rare handful of honest politicians within BN who subscribe top the above 3 items.

That fate may befall UMNO leaders – and that is if UMNO is incapable of reform even after being ousted from Putrajaya – but definitely it will not be the fate of the Malays.

This is because replacing UMNO/BN in Putrajaya will be the Pakatan Rakyat coalition comprising PKR, PAS and DAP – comprising Malaysians from all races, religions and regions representing the best interests of all.

Do MCA and the other BN component parties agree that if UMNO/BN loses in the 13GE, the Malays will lose political power?

MCA leaders are in fact saying the very opposite – telling the Chinese that if Pakatan Rakyat defeat UMNO/BN in the next general elections, the Chinese will lose even more political, economic, educational, socio-economic and citizenship rights!

Only the nepotistic and term limitless will lose power.

The true answer is that it is not the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans who will lose political power but the DAP-putras and their hangers-on in the other Pakatan component parties – with ordinary Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region coming into their own to have rightful share in the decision-making process in a more democratic Malaysia by removing term limitless Lim Kitsiangs and Karpals and their families from family blocs in Parliament.

It is time that DAP and PKR leaders stop their irresponsible politics of “falsely-unify and rule-by-kicking out members and being dictators PAP style” and compete to match 3rd Force instead on “TERM LIMITS and END OF NEPOTISM” for a more democratic, just, prosperous and competitive Malaysia.

TWO important decisions at the recently concluded 21st Asean Summit in Phnom Penh were: the launch of the Asean Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and delaying the launch of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by 12 months, from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2015, to iron out pending issues and prepare the necessary regulations.

RCEP is forged as an alliance between Asean and its six dialogue partners — Australia, China, India, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand — to create a free trade area with great potential for gains through economic cooperation.

To date, numerous free trade agreements (FTAs) and economic partnership agreements (EPAs) have been concluded between single Asean member nations and by Asean as a group with individual dialogue partners. However, the overlapping priorities, procedures and practices have reduced the effectiveness and the potential benefits of these agreements since businesses have to observe the different rules of these various arrangements while it has also increased the cost of utilising preferential concessions.

It is in that context that the Asean RCEP agreement, with its region-wide partners, has the potential to reduce the complexity arising from the current multiplicity of agreements by agreeing on a single package and focusing on Asean’s centrality in the region.

Second, RCEP would be a basis for more complementary regional integration initiatives, since the partnership is to be built on the experiences, strengths and drawbacks of the many existing FTAs and EPAs.

It is also hoped that the Asean RCEP could spur efforts to set up an FTA between China, Japan and South Korea, a prospect faced with several impediments still to be resolved. Once established on a firm footing among the three northeast Asian nations, it can certainly enhance further regional economic integration.

All these positive aspirations and moves to achieve effective regional economic integration pivot on the countries concerned strengthening their commitment to, and being ready to work towards, that very goal, both among Asean members and their dialogue partners.

And, it is here, that the decision to delay by 12 months the launching of the AEC becomes critical. In that time frame, all Asean members must make progress to fulfil and implement the agreed road map and targeted actions for the AEC. That must surely be a prerequisite for realising the broader goal of regional economic integration.

One should also keep in mind that RCEP might be perceived as a competitor to the United States-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). At present, only Australia, Brunei, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam are a part of the TPP, while several other Asean members and dialogue partners, notably China, are not — a fact that could cause conflict of interests and derail effective economic integration.

Such a situation, if not clearly demarcated so that both the TPP and RCEP mutually benefit its members, could easily complicate further the existing and planned business pacts in the region, and frustrate efforts to achieve effective regional economic integration.

Malaysia, as a founding Asean member, having successful economic ties with all major countries and given its presence in both the TPP and RCEP, can and should play a key role in helping to promote the success of the AEC and the wider goal of regional economic integration, especially in the current context of a globalised economic and trading regime.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

No. Malaysia may be a founding member of ASEAN, but has institutionalized apartheid in the social economic system and is nominally Islamo-extremist and Nazi style ethnic communalist to a certain level alongside extreme religious fundo-mindsets against LGBTs and other non-Muslim entertainments. These facts render Malaysia non-viable as an ASEAN signatory until corrected. So long as Malaysia has denied the minorities and non-Muslims :

Malaysia’s role in ASEAN will be limited and biased, value deducted and disunifying from sheer inequality of the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA applied against the superminority of 40% of the non-Muslim and non-Malay population.

This is supposed to be one of our ‘better’ less fundo ‘more liberal’ Malays. England has extended far too much courtesy and spotlight to this duplicituous sorry specimen of humanity while ignoring worthier Malaysian citizens.

ARTICLE 15

The women haters in Parliament – November 28, 2012

NOV 28 — So, we now have rules in Parliament to stop lawmakers from saying sexist things.

You can stop them saying sexist things but it doesn’t change their mentality. It doesn’t change the fact that both Umno and PAS have chauvinists in their ranks who demean women with their words and actions.

This is also the same man who said attractive women shouldn’t work as they can get husbands, unlike their “uglier” brethren.

If I were to tell one of our chauvinistic MPs to his face that he hated women, he would probably reply, “Of course, not! I love women!”

Of course you do.

You love having women in your kitchen.

You love having women in your bedroom.

You love women when they tell you you’re right. When they agree with you. When they’re meek, pliable and not nearly as good at anything you do.

And when some woman tells you off for something like sexism or chauvinism, you brush her off as some “man-hating feminist.”

There’s a big difference between chauvinism and chivalry, but to some Malaysian men, they seem to be one and the same.

You don’t have to be an MP to be sexist. Take former Umno Kota Kinabalu protem head, Roselan Johar Mohamed, who is famous not because he is current chair of the BIMP-Eeaga Malaysian Business Council but for saying “If you cannot fight rape, better lay down and enjoy it.”

He claims he got that from a proverb by Confucius. I counter with a real quote from Confucius: “To subdue one’s self and return to propriety, is virtue.” Or, in other words, the right thing to do is have enough self-control to conduct yourself properly.

By that measure, too many of our politicians are very un-virtuous indeed.

It’s not just the way our male politicians talk about women but the way female politicians are treated in this country.

Why the need for separate women’s wings? Why, for instance, can’t a woman contest for leadership positions against men in our political parties?

Why must there be separate wings and positions just for the women?

Why can’t, say, a woman be the division head for Umno Selangor? Heck, why can’t a woman be the mentri besar? Why aren’t any of the mentri besar women? Where in our constitution does it specify that a woman cannot be head of state?

The reality is that sexism and chauvinism are entrenched in our local as well as political cultures. Telling our MPs to be “good boys” in Parliament isn’t enough because all our men need to be taught to acknowledge women as equals.

Sexism, like racism, is something that will never really go away. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t do our level best to fight them.

You can start small by gently reprimanding someone like Bung by saying, “That’s a sexist thing to say.”

Mentally, feel free to imagine hitting him about the head with a rolled up newspaper. Even virtue has its limits.

(The writer would like to emphasise that she suggested to “imagine” and not actually perform acts of violence, no matter how tempting.)

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

i) You can stop them saying sexist things but it doesn’t change their mentality.

Hey you can’t stop people from thinking or saying what they want ‘Erna’. 1st Amendment Rights, Voltarian FREEDOM OF SPEECH (freedom of life)!

ii) It doesn’t change the fact that both Umno and PAS have chauvinists in their ranks who demean women with their words and actions.

Doesn’t change the fact that SOME women do prefer chauvinistic men enough to ignore any incidental ‘demeaning’ of women.

iii) Why the need for separate women’s wings? Why, for instance, can’t a woman contest for leadership positions against men in our political parties?

Erna are you a Muslim? UMNO and PAS are Muslim parties, seperate wings in fact are ‘Muslim Characteristics’, even though Malays are not Muslims to begin with. If Erna needs to be apostate, Erna should leave Islam, but do not try to change Islam’s gender segregation. In time Islam will become a petty cult with the relic of gender seperation, this does not mean that Islam should change.

iv) Heck, why can’t a woman be the mentri besar? Why aren’t any of the mentri besar women? Where in our constitution does it specify that a woman cannot be head of state?

Do some work to declare Malaysia a secular state don’t compl;ain here. In Islam, the Patriarchy is dominant, if Islam is the faith of the country, all Muslims should be aware that only men are MBs or CMs.Run for politics instead of carrying b@lls on the media portals. How about Erna run as the first apostate Malay woman MP candidate who will forward a bill for MBs to be women, or declaring Malaysia a secualar state Erna?

v) The reality is that sexism and chauvinism are entrenched in our local as well as political cultures.

AND some women like things this way too. And so long as there is demand, there will be supply.

vi) Telling our MPs to be “good boys” in Parliament isn’t enough because all our men need to be taught to acknowledge women as equals.

ALL OUR MEN? Sorry Erna, women are not the same as men, or vice versa, NOR are men ‘yours’, and cannot be equals in the manner hoped for. Some women recognize this, some can’t. Are you a lesbian or a man trapped in a woman’s body Erna? Erna should have a sex change needed, or if bigendered in preference, lobby for ‘shemale’ to be included on ICs, Passports and perhaps even specil notes on birth certificates stating sex change or bigenderism.

vii) Mentally, feel free to imagine hitting him about the head with a rolled up newspaper. Even virtue has its limits.

Somone’s into rough !@#. Nice! I’d say Erna is a closet lesbian, a man in a woman’s body (too many male hormones in food?), or (secretly?) wants to be dominated by a ‘Bung-like’ man.

viii) You love women when they tell you you’re right. When they agree with you. When they’re meek, pliable and not nearly as good at anything you do.

Some do some don’t. And as the song goes ‘ There’s someone for everyone . . .’ So stop picking on actually meek, pliable and ditzy women who are the raison d’etre of misogynistic men as much as meek, as much as pliable and ditzy women posing as such to seek the love of men they like even if these men are on the mental plane chauvinists! Some gaps in logic? Love and marriage is that nuanced, harems polygamous and polyandrous included . . . try the below link for some pretty normal looking polygamous families.

Under the correct circumstances, or without the right backers, the state would haul Erna up and decide Erna was insane and needed to be medicated the rest of Erna’s life. How absolutist can anyone get and without thinking through the above facts if not merely being a feminist demogogue intent on limiting the myriad forms of expression in marriage?

BERA – The government has tasked two cooperatives to get more Chinese traders to participate in the Retail Shop Transformation Project (Tukar) which has attracted less than 10 per cent of entrepreneurs from the community so far, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said here.

The government had also provided an allocation of RM8 million to the cooperatives – Koperasi Jaya Diri Malaysia Bhd and Koperasi Peralihan Usahawan Bersatu Cina – to do the job, which involved disseminating information on the project in Chinese to the targeted traders, he said.

Ismail Sabri said Chinese traders were reluctant to participate in the project because they could not obtain clear explanation of the project.

“We hope the two cooperatives will help disseminate the relevant information on Tukar in Chinese dialects to the traders for them to better understand the project,” he told reporters after a dialogue with Chinese traders in Triang, here, yesterday.

Tukar is one of 13 Entry Point Projects under the Economic Transformation Programme to modernise 500 small retailers and co-operatives by the end of the year.

Ismail Sabri said it was not necessary for traders joining the Tukar project to sell only 1Malaysia products at their outlets as they could also sell other goods.

“The management of the business is upgraded under the Tukar project to be more systematic,” he said.

– Bernama

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Wednesday, 28 November 2012 20:00 posted by VQiong

Only opportunistic MCA cadre participated. No honourable Chinese will take up the offer.

ARTICLE 15

Muhyiddin: We are just and fair to all races – Wednesday, 28 November 2012 16:14

KUALA LUMPUR: UMNO’S track record of being a just and fair party to all races compares favourably with the dysfunctional state governments ruled by Pakatan Rakyat since the 2008 general election.

Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Pakatan leaders, so used to stoking racial sentiments and religious extremism, had alienated each other in states under its rule.

He said a deep mistrust, racial and religious chasm and differing ideologies and political beliefs could seal Pakatan’s fate.

In a rousing speech at the joint opening of the Wanita, Youth and Puteri delegates’ conference last night ahead of the party’s annual general assembly, Muhyiddin said:

“In Penang, DAP refuses to share power with Pas which has only one representative in the state assembly. Until today, none of the Pas members has been appointed as state executive council members.

“DAP went to the extent of appointing a Parti Keadilan Rakyat representative to handle the state religious portfolio although it knew that Pas was more qualified.

“Similarly in Kedah, the sole DAP assemblyman was not appointed as an exco in the Pas-ruled state while in Selangor, a Pas exco member and a DAP exco member had once clashed over the enforcement of Islamic laws in the PKR-led state.”

Muhyiddin added Pakatan’s win in the last general election served, therefore, as “a blessing in disguise for Barisan Nasional because it exposed its inability to work with each other”.

He said power sharing among opposition leaders “had never existed” because of mistrust.

As for Umno, the deputy prime minister said the party continued to protect the interests of all races.

“Umno has never discriminated against any race in its struggles for the Malays and Islam in the last 66 years.”

In an indirect reference to PKR’s de facto leader, Muhyiddin hit out at “an opposition leader” whom he said had requested help from a foreign country to oversee the electoral process.

“He is telling lies to the whole world that our election process is not clean. This is treason and a dirty tactic by a desperado.”

He said Malaysia under the BN administration had never reneged on its power-sharing promises in governing the country.

He also called on party members to give their all in the final lap before the general election.

“As party frontliners, Wanita, Pemuda and Puteri are the workhorses (pasukan tahan lasak). Go to all corners of the country and the cities, traverse valleys and the rivers, uphold our struggles and, God willing, we will parade our victory torch (in the general election).”

– New Straits Times

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Muhyiddin: We are just and fair to all races.

NO, BN and UMNO are not just or fair to all races. Muhyiddin is not fair to all races. There is no justice or fairness without :

We view with serious concerns the Malaysian government’s invitation to Sri Lankan President Mahinder Rajapaksa to attend the 8th World Islamic Economic Forum from December 4 to 6 (despite the latest report that he may not be attending).

This invitation is certainly disgraceful and outrageous as President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a suspected war criminal for mass atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan army including the massacres of Tamil civilians and captured LTTE fighters, targeted shelling of civilians, rape, sexual assault, abuse and murder. In April 2011, a UN expert report concluded that as many as 40,000 people were killed in the final weeks of the war between the LTTE and government forces.

Although Malaysia is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court (ICC), on 9 February, 2009 the government in its presentation at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UNHRC stated that “Malaysia has undertaken a detailed study and held consultations to study the legal implications arising from the provisions of the Rome Statute. Despite several concerns, Malaysia is fully committed to the principles and the establishment of the ICC and their integrity.”

We therefore urge the Malaysian government to rescind the invitation to President Mahinda Rajapaksa as this invitation would send damaging signals to victims of mass atrocity in Sri Lanka and globally, Sri Lankan refugees worldwide including in Malaysia, and undermine Malaysia’s credibility on issues of justice and the principles of the ICC.

Seatbelts not fastened, but do we really want to be fined? Get the 222 MPs to remove the fine! If any driver wants to die in an accident from not wearing seatbelts (which is not likely in slow paced jammed up roads in the cities), thats their right to do so.

But fining people only profiteers off the citizens! RM150 is EXCESSIVE especially from this sort of ‘victimless traffic offence’ thing. Was anyone hurt because the driver was not wearing a seatbelt? Was the driver driving quickly? Was the driver doing so many maneuvers with the car that needed a seatbelt to be worn? So the driver without seatbelt on might just be enjoying a sense of FREEDOM and not being bound into a seat to better enjoy a car ride while NOT being criminal minded. WHY does the traffic code need to be so invasive and consider this a crime? Who wrote the code? Also consider that a person who earns less than 1500 a month and barely saves 150 a month is effectively being bled to death by this sort of fine for a traffic offence.

I strongly suggest that 1% of salaries by applied for fining, and NO FINE by applied for those not currently working. This means that a 1000.00 earner pays 10.00 for a traffic offence, with 3% and 10% being levied for more serious or dangerous offences. Just wait till I get my MP’s seat, prepare for MASSIVE overhauls of the system, so are we ready to vote and run for election alongside moi on this issue at least?

Percentage of salary based fines and bails (which seem to all say one thing – the rich are immune to justice and do not feel the pain of fines . . . ) BTW, the officer was ‘kind’ enough to offer to ‘ignore’ the 150 fine for a 50 ‘duit kopi’, but even though moi could have put the money to better use, some of us would rather pay the full 150 than encourage bribery and corruption in the police force. BUT BECAUSE some of us also do not believe in destroying a civil servants life with a brownnoser style report, I’ll leave the reporting of the bribery issue alone (no bribe paid anyway) and take on the state instead by running for candidacy (by proxy perhaps) simply to lower those damn fines or even amend the criminal codes as well. Whats the point of this sort of shameless profiteering?

Oh and the wheel clamp fine by police is excessive also, 50.00? What a waste of time and productivity, citizens may have slower traffic but saving money and time making trips to the payment counter makes for a happier citizen likelier to vote for the existing government. Plastic bags 0.20 cents? 0.05 cents more likely! To inform, out of sheer spirit some citizens hit with fines may not want to riot or turn cop-killers, but they sure as hell will try to screw the system if the system screws them. Whos’s with the 99% in screwing back the system by making fines salary based through forcing MPs to assent to the above by voting someone else? Lets amend the criminal code by kicking out the BN and Pakatan MPs! End the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA! BN and Pakatan look set to not grant :

;so why should we vote them and their 23K salaries? 99% are we ready to vote 3rd Force? Lets LOWER all MP salaries and traffic fines, ditch the Hudud elements in the criinal code ESPECIALLY for non-Muslims and by Human Rights ALLOW Muslims who really want to have Article 18 of the Human Rights Charter their right to exercise what the rest of HUMANITY can!

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 (Bernama) — United Nations (UN) in Malaysia hopes the government and the Election Commission (EC) to use its ground breaking report to enhance Malaysia’s electoral reform efforts before the 13th General Election.

UN Resident Coordinator for Malaysia, Kamal Malhotra said the report, which was issued last month, presents a strategy to increase the likelihood that incumbent politicians and governments would deepen democracy and improve the integrity of national elections.

Kamal said UN had long established a reputation for being globally the most experienced neutral and credible organisation on such issues worldwide.

“Indeed, since 1991, we have provided electoral assistance to more than 100 UN member states and four territories, including Mexico, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya,” he said in his speech at the UN Malaysia Award 2012 here, Wednesday.

Applauding the EC for their recent decision to implement 26 out of the 32 recommendations made by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reform, he said the UN was prepared to share its vast experience and technical expertise in the area. Kamal also said that the UN commends and supports Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in countinuing on a path of law reform through the Political Transformation Programme which was consonant with international human rights norms and standards.

“We know that the government and people of Malaysia are committed to nation building and democratic consolidation,” he said.

Earlier, the Malaysian Bar Council was conferred with the UN Malaysia Award 2012 for its role in promoting democracy and human rights.

The UN Person of the Year Award was also posthumously awarded to the late Prof Khoo Kay Jin in recognition of his lifetime of outstanding achievement.

Selected Commentator Comments :

How could the Bar Council accept the award with a straight face when it could not disbar V.K. Lingam for his role in perverting the course of justice?

Mr Bean October 25, 2012 at 7:13 am

Hussin must be his dreaming self again. It is time he has both feet on the ground. The failure to purge the honorable profession of members seen to be flouting its own rules is symptomatic of a wider problem that continues to make a mockery of its struggle to give meaning to the rule of law.

Here is a profession which grew from some 600 members in the ’60s to multiples of 3,000 members today in the short space of a few decades and whose members for the most part depend on the government directly or indirectly for their livelihood, to put food on the table for their famiies, it is wishful thinking to think that they could be more than anything else but a group of self serving individuals who would prostitute their profession and betray the principles of their profession, sell their grandmothers and throw others under the bus when push comes to shove.

Having said that there have been a committed and dedicated handful fiercely loyal to their profession who are working to bring back honor to their profession that have alluded it over the years. But even they are powerless to bring change where change is most needed.

Mr Bean October 25, 2012 at 6:40 pm

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Toad! This award is entirely inappropriate. How could the UN award the Bar Council when Kugan (ok a car thief is a criminal but does not deserve to die so terribly and under such poor procedure) Teo Beng Hock (political sacrifice by DAP – anyone who took on the ACA at that time was doomed, DAP just didn’y like TBH’s politics and sent TBH to TBH’s doom) and Altantuya (the world knows this one, diplomatic fallout no end for BN . . . ) died without legal redress? When socio-economic apartheid continues uncontrolled? When forced military conscriptions are unaddressed? Where the country is being bled by term limitless nepotists in either BN or PR coalition, and Orang Asli land is stolen ALL THE TIME? Does the UN know that Malaysia lacks :

;and that the Bar Council (which I visited in person but were all unwilling to address APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA) is asleep on the job regards even Article 1 of the Human Rights Charter which is equality that Malaysians do not have, Article 18 of the Human Rights Charter which is freedom of choice in religion which Malaysia ALSO does not have? Bar Council are panders and colluders to Malaysian insouciance and opacity, hiding behind a legal junta of undemocratically installed judge that collude with MPs to hide all sorts of Human Rights abuses?

For years the United Nations has aggressively worked against the best interests of our country and many of our allies. The UN’s actions and intentions toward the United States have been nothing short of reprehensible.” Republican congressman Connie Mack Saturday Oct 27 2012 . . .

Well, faux-Muslets at the Bar Council? Did Bar Council bribe the UN for this award? The people don’t need a legal education to understand all the above facts. I am shocked at the UN! What is wrong with the UN?

ARTICLE 2

Propaganda online was never this blatant . . .

How many times have the Muslim Traders Association had to protest DAP’s policy en masse on the street, and even small traders been targetted, land laws corrupted to benefit DAP, illegal distribution of tax funds that the proud among Penangites refuse to accept?

DAP has institutionalized corruption, while BN’s corruption is undertable.

Because one writes a corrupt law (i) much like creating a Minister Mentor and Senior Minister’s posts to STEAL tax monies with the assent of MPs, or (ii) 750K funerals for CMs and Assemblywomen wives 120K funerals AT THE Rakyat’s expense)

;does not represent the will of 99% of the REAL voters – Representative Democracy is NOT 1 man 1 vote TRUE democracy . . .) does not make DAP any more moral or shows more integrity in DAP.

At least in some cases MCA is ashamed and tries to hide corruption DAP is totally shameless like PAP’s creating the 4 million + yearly Minister mentor and Senior Minister posts (this was kept but had Minister mentor created because the short form SM also means Sado-Masochist – and the taxpayers by MP collusion had to tolerate ANOTHER 4 million in a new post for Beloved Leader . . .),

;and writes shameless laws to justify corruption, saying ‘thats the law’, but none of the Rakyat would ever allow those laws, only the colluding MPs will . . .

The busiest part of the Nibong Tebal constituency is Jawi town. The next general election is expected to be the closest fight to form the new government. And several seats across the nation are likely to see heated battles with the victor winning by the slimmest of majorities. The Malaysian Insider takes a look at some of these hot seats in what will be an intense election for control of Malaysia.

NIBONG TEBAL, Oct 26 — Located on the southern part of Seberang Perai, this small township of about 50,000 people is almost like the last frontier of mainland Penang.

That’s because there is a spot in this quiet little town where you just need to take one step forward and you would have left Penang and stepped right into Perak.

Perhaps it is due to its distance from the busy city of George Town but not many Penang folk would venture here except for foodies intent on trying out the town’s famed Teochew crab porridge, boiled baby octopus and curried freshwater prawns.

Far from the sea, it may seem strange that this mainland township’s fame is tied to “seafood” but considering the Krian River runs through it, the mud crabs and freshwater prawns are obviously local catches.

Jawi is the busiest part of the whole constituency where there is a concentration of shoplots, food courts, wet markets, restaurants, supermarkets and government offices.

Nibong Tebal is spread out over three state constituencies — Jawi, Sungai Acheh and Sungai Bakap — with different racial groups in different villages.

The whole of Nibong Tebal is made up of about 55 per cent non-Malays and about 45 per cent Malays, with a majority of the Malays located in the Sungai Acheh area where agriculture is the main industry.

Jawi town is the main hub with its rows of shophouses.
That’s why choosing a candidate to contest the parliamentary seat can be tricky as the contesting parties will need to satisfy the needs of both the Malays and non-Malays.

Previously, the Nibong Tebal parliamentary seat and its three state seats, Sungai Acheh, Sungai Bakap and Jawi, were all Barisan Nasional (BN) seats.

In the 2004 general election, Umno (BN) newcomer Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman won the parliamentary seat with a 6,005-vote majority while the three state seats also saw BN winning with huge majorities but in 2008, BN only managed to retain the Sungai Acheh state seat with a slim majority of 250 votes and lost the rest.

This coming election, Zainal Abidin is tipped to be the one to try to win the seat back for BN even though the current MP, Tan Tee Beng, who won the seat on the PKR ticket, is now an independent MP.

Zainal Abidin is tipped to be the BN candidate for the Nibong Tebal parliamentary seat.
Zainal Abidin was previously a parliamentary secretary in the Foreign Ministry when he was the Nibong Tebal MP in 2004.

A local boy, Zainal Abidin’s family home is located in one of the villages here but other than to his fellow villagers, he is not that well-known in the non-Malay community.

Instead, he often appears at BN functions with Nibong Tebal BN co-ordinator Tan Cheng Liang, who is also former Jawi state assemblyman and tipped to contest the Jawi state seat, purportedly to show a united BN front.

It is obvious that Nibong Tebal has been “under attack” by BN which is intent on winning the two state seats and the parliamentary one back this time around.

This year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced a RM8.5 million allocation for Nibong Tebal for development projects such as construction of a multi-purpose hall in Nibong Tebal (RM3 million), repainting of apartments (RM2 million), repairing of houses in Indian and Chinese villages (RM2 million) and rebuilding of Sekolah Agama Rakyat Al-Amin (RM1.8 million).

Fishing is an industry in the area as the Krian River runs through Nibong Tebal.
A few months ago, Tan handed out cooking utensils and equipment worth about RM160,000 to single mothers and low-income families under the 1Azam programme.

There was also a “promotional blitz” of sorts when the MCA launched its Jom Masuk Kampung (Let’s Enter The Villages) roadshow in Penang at Nibong Tebal with all of the top MCA leadership spending the day at various villages in the constituency.

More recently, BN allocated a further RM3 million, on top of the RM1 million it had earlier allocated, to the building fund of SMJK Jit Sin II which is located in the constituency. The school is in the midst of raising RM30 million for its building fund.

But all this attention by BN does not seem to impress many of the constituents. “We are not small children who can be pleased by offerings of sweets and candies. Do they think us stupid?” a resident said when asked if they feel indebted to BN for all the goodies it has been handing out to the constituency.

After speaking to the villagers, it is clear that the general sentiment seems to be one of disgust, disappointment and even hatred for BN and its leaders.

“They think we are slow-thinking villagers who do not know how to access the Internet to get the real story behind their corruption and excesses? There they are spending our money like their own and then when elections come, they pretend to give us little titbits as if it is from their own pocket,” one Jawi resident said.

Many of them said they would not give BN another chance to “cheat” and “lie” to them. “If I see any of them, I turn around and walk away. I feel it is really time that we changed the whole federal government, not only change our state assemblymen and MP,” said an elderly resident who’s been following the political scene closely through the news and the Internet.

A quiet village in Nibong Tebal, where the electorate is made up of about 55 per cent non-Malays and about 45 per cent Malays,
He said it was not really about the individual component parties any more but more about BN versus Pakatan Rakyat (PR). “Even if PR were to put a PAS candidate for the parliamentary seat, I am certain PR will still win the seat,” he said.

He added that the scare tactics by BN about hudud did not turn the non-Malays off PR but instead make them even more disgusted with BN. “Again, they seem to think we are fools. We all know hudud is only for Muslims so why should we even be afraid of something that has nothing to do with us?”

Zainal Abidin is expected to go head to head with Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mansor Othman, the Penang PKR chief. Mansor is the incumbent Penanti state assemblyman and it seems he’s destined for bigger things, such as a Cabinet position if PR succeeds in its bid to win Putrajaya.

Mansor may be the PR candidate for Nibong Tebal.
A PKR member said voters in Nibong Tebal were not in the least bit angry with PKR over Tan Tee Beng leaving the party and becoming a BN-friendly independent MP. “In fact, voters may construe this as another dirty trick by BN and this may just anger them more so this could mean more votes for PKR,” he said.

He said this may be why Mansor may be chosen to contest this seat as he is the PKR state chief and the current deputy chief minister. “Having someone more ‘established’ and experienced will be an advantage to PKR,” he said.

Earlier there was talk that Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wanted to take this seat but he has confirmed that he will continue to stand in Permatang Pauh. There is also talk of Anwar’s second daughter, Nurul Nuha, being proposed as a candidate for Nibong Tebal.

Mansor also reportedly confirmed that Nurul Nuha’s name was listed as a possible candidate for Nibong Tebal.

So, will it be the relatively new Nurul Nuha or will it be Mansor? According to a voter, it doesn’t really matter.

“As long as it is Pakatan Rakyat, we will vote for the candidate but we do not want another frog so the party better put someone reliable there,” said the PKR member. Despite the positive reactions PR has been getting from voters there, a grassroots member said it would still be a tough fight.

“We are not so worried about the non-Malay votes but winning the Malay votes can be tough so it will be a close call,” he predicted.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Battle? Don’t be so dramatic. The MP is supposed to LEAVE after 2 terms preferably or they become a stale colluding farce that cannot challenge APARTHEID despite parliamentary immunity that allow Road Tolls, forced military conscriptions, Astro monopolies (refusing to legalise satellite dishes) and other nonsense like refusing to lower Election Deposits which are so high that the majority of the lower and middle class are prevented from running for election due to the sheer cost in a form of plutocracy that becomes nepotistic then dictatorlike and eventually resorts to sabotage of activists and the 5th estate via social sabotage, staged ’embarassing events’ (that result in sh1t cake retaliations) or even worse, neurotech and psychiatric sabotage in extreme cases where the target is too clever for their fundo mindsets, LIES and undemocratic intentions against the people.

He added that the scare tactics by BN about hudud did not turn the non-Malays off PR but instead make them even more disgusted with BN. “Again, they seem to think we are fools. We all know hudud is only for Muslims so why should we even be afraid of something that has nothing to do with us?”

. . . so why should we even be afraid of something that has nothing to do with us? . . .

Politics of expedience gives rise to the racists to apply apartheid and fuels the cowardice of Pakatan politicians who think like this. This is an ethically corrupt stance that will lead to dictators, nepotists and death of democracy in general. BN is apartheid and corrupt, but Pakatan is as bad if not worse in this sort of severe weakness. Hudud is an abomination against Human Rights and any person who goes . . . so why should we even be afraid of something that has nothing to do with us? . . . is one of the people of the world who fuels the cause of evil and oppression of humanity. If they have no capacity to care for such issues, they cannot care for democracy and thus are unqualified to run the nation . . .

HONG KONG, Oct 25 — Chinese author Wang Xiaofang, a former government official turned best-selling novelist, is a forceful advocate for democratization and staunch critic of Chinese contemporaries who he sees as too cosy with the establishment.

Since resigning as secretary to the deputy mayor of Shenyang city in northeastern China, Wang has written “officialdom” novels drawing on his Communist Party insider’s experience to expose greed, intrigue, corruption and factional rivalry in the highly secretive and murky world of Chinese politics.

In “The Civil Servant’s Notebook,” his first book translated into English and due out next month, Wang, 49, skewers politicians reminiscent of Bo Xilai, the ousted politician at the centre of China’s biggest political scandal in two decades.

The Shenyang-based Wang, whose 13 novels have been widely pirated and have sold 3 million official copies, spoke with Reuters on the sidelines of the Hong Kong Literary Festival about Honore de Balzac and urine-drinking as a metaphor for absolute authority.

Q: What kinds of difficulties have you encountered in publishing your type of work in China?

A: “My fourth book, ‘The Mayor’s Secretary,’ made its rounds all over China in the search of an accepting publisher. I managed to get through to some publishers that would have frequent changes in management and editors so I can sometimes slip something through but even then, it would get rejected most of the time. I have not published for two years. I have four books waiting to get published. The environment has become more restrictive in the past two years.

“I stayed low profile in mainland China for a while. I don’t publicize my work there. There’s no TV series or film I can profit from. I have not received Chinese awards. They wouldn’t dare make a film out of this, and they’re not allowed to. In the beginning I received many threats, telling me to stop or they will chop off my hands. Some officials would look through my fictional work and say I’m writing about them and directly implicating them. They all look for themselves.”

Q: How do you feel about the works of other Chinese writers? What’s your reaction to Mo Yan being awarded the Nobel Prize?

A: “I give my congratulations to Mo Yan. His works stem from the stories and civilization of his hometown, depicting the life and culture of that society. Not all literature necessarily has to lash out against the government. One can certainly write about a myriad of things in life. Mo Yan took that route.

“Many Chinese writers do comply with the system. They have stable salaries even if they don’t write. China’s writers, once they earn a bit of reputation, will aim for official positions in writer’s associations. The well-known writers in China are all vice chairmen or chairmen of these associations, which means they are Party officials. They have their private cars.

“Most Chinese writers in the mainland eulogize authority. For instance, something like Honore de Balzac’s critical realism — mainland writers do not employ that. They employ eulogistic realism. They applaud the system.

“I aspire to a new style of writing, like how Joyce and Proust made contributions to literary history with their stream of consciousness approach, or Franz Kafka’s impact on 20th century literature. But there hasn’t been a similar literary movement in China. They imitate previous styles and ideas from the West but never created their own genre. Lu Xun, for instance, whom I respect very much, did not create a new style.”

Q: How are your books a commentary on the Bo Xilai scandal and on China’s current political atmosphere?

A: “The Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun case may seem out of the ordinary, but they are in fact inevitable. There will be other similar occurrences. It’s the system. They are all the same characters. There’s a character similar to Bo Xilai in my recent book. As long as there’s absolute authority, it will produce such authority figures. Absolute authority means absolute corruption. This event shows the urgency and necessity of reform in the Chinese system.

“In this book, one of the officials had been drinking urine for five years because he thinks it has medicinal benefits. Then during a banquet his friends poured him a beer and he cried because he had been drinking urine for such a long time. The urine symbolizes the cultural garbage inherent to the system that the official complies with, and that’s believed to be beneficial. I won’t comment on the political, but I hope that China can move towards reform. Reform of civil society and law is China’s Golden Road towards future progress. I hope the new leadership can bring this about.”

Q: Do you see a burgeoning Chinese literary movement? Will this society in transition produce a new crop of writers?

A: “If they all become party officials, then no. Many don’t have the courage to rely solely on their pen to make a living…

“Most of the material coming from Chinese writers today, the ones translated into English, talk about the period before or during the Cultural Revolution but do not focus on China’s current affairs. As for works that do focus on current society, the ones that write about urban life are full of depictions of song and dance and wealth, while the ones set in the countryside depict the beautiful scenery. They do not touch upon the darkness of current reality. Under such a system, we cannot be ourselves. We become spiritual eunuchs and helpless bystanders. This is extremely painful. Your soul is not free.”

“In this man-made system, the human has become a non-human. So if I just sat on the inside and kept watching, then I will also turn into a beetle, like in Franz Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis.’ The person from my past political life has passed. The person sitting in front of you is an ordinary man, a writer.” — Reuters

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

. . . urine-drinking as a metaphor for absolute authority . . .

Little wonder the Lee junta family in Singapore introduced 3% reprocessed sewer treated waste water (thats both urine AND faeces), into the water system in Singapore. That way the NLP will affect the people and make them more ‘obedient’. Aren’t we all glad we are not living in Singapore? Incidentally troublemaker Japan looks quite bad too in creating the ‘Faeces Steak’. Please educate the peoples of ASEAN what they are up against writers and 1st world minded nations, the political junta has in place a system of oppression, subtle or not, and purveyors of such ‘urine drinking by proxy (i.e. grey water)’ mindsets must not be let off and must be outed. 2 terms only!

Jakarta Police display airsoft guns seized during the arrest of two men accused of selling the illegal guns on Facebook at a press conference in Jakarta on Monday. (JG Photo/Safir Makki) Jakarta Police display airsoft guns seized during the arrest of two men accused of selling the illegal guns on Facebook at a press conference in Jakarta on Monday. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

TheSplodge – 10:41pm Oct 22, 2012

Commentator Commentary :

What a pathetic waste of time and how is this the 2nd headline? These guns fire plastic pellets for gawd sake. Is this really the best use of police time? Mind you, anything harder than plastic and the police would have run away.

President Susilo, too busy colluding, or asleep behind the wheel? Any can detest Christians and Buddhists but they have a right to be present in all societies in the world as much as a Satanist or a Goth into Vampirism. Muslims in fact are much noisier what with the loudspeakers and all that . . . Anything beyond the decibel level of human voices should be deemed illegal but why the demolitions in such a fundo manner? President Susilo? Investigations? Reparations?

So, legally, a Member of Parliament cannot resign his or her seat and re-contest that seat in a by-election. This means that issue first needs to be addressed. And then we need to amend/abrogate the Article in the Constitution that guarantees all Malaysians freedom of association. You will be denied freedom of association once you get elected into office.

First please read Chief Minister of Penang Lim Guan Eng’s press statement below. I have not edited or amended it because I want you to read it as it is.

It looks like someone had translated this statement into English from the original Chinese version. Since this press release carries the Chief Minister’s name there should be a higher standard of language used. The grammar and sentence structure should be as flawless as possible and words or phrases such as ‘political frogs’ should be avoided.

Can you see that the list of ‘names’ we can attach to various Malaysian personalities is endless? You only need to allow your imagination to run wild and Malaysians certainly have a world-class imagination when it comes to giving people ‘names’. I bet the comments below are going to be flooded with some very creative and imaginative ‘names’ of people you love to hate, me included.

Nevertheless, I am giving Guan Eng the benefit of the doubt and will assume that his aides and speechwriters would usually prepare his press statements. I am sure Guan Eng is too busy to sit down with pen and paper and spend hours writing all these statements. Guan Eng has to review the quality of his staff and outsource some of this work if necessary in the interest of maintaining a higher standard.

One of the criteria of a good speechwriter would be the research required. The statements must not only be consistent with earlier statements and the party stand but they must also be consistent with the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, the State Constitution, convention, tradition, cultural norms, religious sensitivities, sentiments and whatnot.

There are so many things to consider in making a statement because in this age of the information revolution people will remember what you said even 30 or 40 years ago. So you cannot make a faux pas and get away with it. It will come back to haunt you later. And the ‘I have been misquoted’ excuse no longer works, as many people have discovered.

I can afford to ignore all these ‘pitfalls’ and write ‘no holds barred’. I do not need for people to like or love me because I will not be contesting the election and, therefore, do not need your votes. The same can’t be said for Guan Eng. Public perception and public support is very crucial in Guan Eng’s case. This will determine whether he wins or loses the election.

Now, before you go off tangent and start saying that this is a Guan Eng bashing article, please note for the record that Guan Eng is one of my more favourite politicians. I actually went to Penang back in 2008 to help campaign for him. I did not do that for the other Pakatan Rakyat politicians other than Ronnie Liu and Nurul Izzah Anwar (and the proof is all on YouTube if you care to do a Google search).

Nazri Aziz made a statement in Parliament today saying that Malaysia is neither a Secular State nor an Islamic State. And the reason Nazri said this, according to him, is because Malaysia’s Constitution is ‘silent’ on the matter and makes no mention of it.

I find that politicians will quote the Constitution when it suits them and if it does not then they will quote the Qur’an, the Hadith, the Sunnah, the Social Contract, the Merdeka Agreement, the 18-Point Agreement, the 20-Point Agreement, the New Economic Policy, the Election Manifesto, the Reid Commission, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and whatnot.

If Nazri wants to follow the Constitution then the Constitution is also silent on the matter of the race and religion of the Prime Minister. Legally, Lim Guan Eng can become the Prime Minister of Malaysia. But Guan Eng cannot become the Prime Minister even though legally, according to the Constitution, he can. And we know why he cannot and also know that it has nothing to do with the Constitution.

Basically, politicians will make a statement and then they will find the justification for that statement. And most times they will contradict themselves from one statement to another. And if they fail to find the right justification they can always use convention, tradition, cultural norms, religious sensitivities, sentiments, etc., as the excuse to justify what they say.

So which ‘guideline’ do we follow then? The Constitution, the Qur’an, the Hadith, the Sunnah, the Social Contract, the Merdeka Agreement, the 18-Point Agreement, the 20-Point Agreement, the New Economic Policy, the Election Manifesto, the Reid Commission, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, convention, tradition, cultural norms, religious sensitivities, sentiments, the powers of the Minister, or what?

We must note that each of those various ‘guidelines’ may contradict one other. So, when yesterday we used one, today we use another, and tomorrow we use yet another, this means we are contradicting ourselves.

Legally, when you vote for someone, whom are you voting for? At the back of your mind you may be voting for the party rather than the candidate. That may be what you are subconsciously doing. But I am asking: legally, whom do you vote for?

When a Member of Parliament stands up in Parliament, the Speaker will address you as, say, “Ahli (Member) dari Lembah Pantai”. The Speaker does not address you as “Ahli dari PKR” or “Ahli dari Pakatan Rakyat”. So you are the wakil or ahli from Lembah Pantai. That is your ‘legal status’. Which party you are from is not the issue. Hence even if you change parties that does not affect your Parliament status.

Now, if we want whoever changes parties to resign (by law) and re-contest the seat in a by-election, we will first need to amend the law that bars someone who resigns from re-contesting for a period of five years.

Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail resigned her Permatang Pauh seat in mid-2008. That means she cannot contest any Parliament seat until at least mid-2013. And that also means she will have to give the coming general election a miss, unless she decides to contest a state seat instead.

So, legally, a Member of Parliament cannot resign his or her seat and re-contest that seat in a by-election. This means that issue first needs to be addressed. And then we need to amend/abrogate the Article in the Constitution that guarantees all Malaysians freedom of association. You will be denied freedom of association once you get elected into office.

It also must be made clear that if you get elected into office you are not Wakil Rakyat but Wakil Parti. And to make sure this is clear, the Speaker must address the Members of Parliament as, say, “Ahli dari PKR” and not “Ahli dari Lembah Pantai”.

Can you see the changes that will be required? It is not merely a simple matter of amending a few words in the State Constitution. A paradigm shift will be required including reconditioning the minds of the voters and the minds of those people who the voters vote into office.

Okay, back to Nazri’s statement today. Nazri is using the Constitution as his guide and his argument is that Malaysia is neither a Secular State nor an Islamic State. So what are we then?

For sure Malaysia is not a Republic because we are a Constitutional Monarchy. And the nine State Rulers are Heads of Islam in their respective states while His Majesty the Agong is Head of Islam for the Federation (plus the four states that do not have Rulers and instead have Governors).

What powers do the Rulers have as Head of Islam? For example, say, Their Highnesses the Sultans of Kelantan and Terengganu want to implement Hudud in their respective states since these two State Assemblies have already approved it years ago. Can this be done?

Nazri would say ‘no’ because Parliament first needs to approve these laws. And since Parliament has not approved it (or has rejected it) then it can’t be done. New laws or amendments to old laws need to be approved by Parliament.

But then is Islam a State matter under the charge of the Rulers or a Federal matter under the charge of Parliament? Ah, Nazri will argue, but Hudud is a legal matter, not a religious matter. So the Federal government and not the State governments have authority over this matter.

Okay, but then apostasy (leaving Islam), drinking/selling of liquor, adultery, illicit sex (sex outside marriage), khalwat (close proximity), etc., are also religious issues. And they are also legal issues. Each state has its own laws and its own forms of punishment for these ‘crimes’. And they differ from one state to another.

We must also remember that although, officially, there are no Hudud laws in Malaysia, those crimes I mentioned above come under Hudud. Hence we DO have Hudud in Malaysia. The only thing is we do not call them Hudud. It is ‘silent’ as to what they are. So, for purposes of giving them a name, we call them Shariah laws.

But Shariah laws are a collection of laws. And one of these collections of laws under the Shariah is Hudud. So what Malaysia has done is it has allowed the implementation of (part of) Hudud as long as you call them Shariah laws and not Hudud laws. You can implement Hudud laws but do not label them as Hudud although they are in reality Hudud laws.

It is like the issue of usury or riba’. In Islam, riba’ is haram (forbidden). So don’t call it riba’. Call it faedah (benefit/interest) or keuntungan (profit/gain). Then it is no longer haram. It is halal (kosher).

Sex outside marriage (zina) is also haram. So don’t call it zina. Call it mut’a (temporary marriage). You get married for a couple of hours just for sex so it is no longer zina and hence not haram. After the sex you ‘divorce’.

Burkha for Nudist Muslims anyone?

Can we take this further? Say you have a bad cough. You then get the doctor (a Muslim doctor if need be) to say that you need some brandy to get rid of your cough. So, for health reasons, you can drink brandy and it is no longer haram. You don’t call it arak. You call it ubat.

Yes, then we can issue a fatwah concerning ‘defending’ Islam and then blow up a school bus with 50 Jewish children inside it. It is not called murder any longer. It is called jihad.

Can you see there is no limit to what we can do when we twist and turn to suit our agenda? And can you also see why Malaysians in general and Malays-Muslims in particular are a very confused lot? They contradict themselves and make statements to suit their objective even though these statements do not make sense.

One day they scream about freedom of this, that or the other. The next day they make a statement that violates all these freedoms. The issue of Islam and the rules of Islam is one case in point. Do we arrest and then jail, cane, fine, tickle, torture, slap, fondle, spank or punch a Muslim who is caught drinking liquor? Furthermore, do we just punish the offender or also the person/establishment that ‘collaborated’ in the ‘crime’?

When you allow prostitution in your massage parlour, not only the prostitutes but also the massage parlour owner will be punished. If your pub employs Muslim staff and they sell beer to Muslims, not only the Muslim customer will be punished. The Muslim staff and the pub owner will face punishment as well.

Is this the law? Yes, according to some states, but not according to the Federal government — or else the government-owned establishments and GLCs will also face punishment. But then they do not face punishment, do they?

So it appears like this is a State criminal law and not a Federal criminal law. People can face criminal action in some states. And this is Hudud although not called Hudud. Hence it appears like the States can by-pass or ignore Parliament if they wish to do so. But then the Federal government says that the States cannot implement or amend laws without the approval of Parliament.

Aiyah! Pening kepala! Yang mana yang betul ni?

Okay, so can Penang introduce laws or amend laws that make party-hopping a crime? Do they need Parliament’s approval or an amendment to the Federal Constitution for this? And while on that subject, can Penang then also pass a law that DOES NOT make it a crime for Muslims to drink beer?

And if not, why not? Is it because His Majesty the Agong and not the Penang State government is the authority over Islam? And if that is the case then can His Majesty the Agong introduce Hudud in Penang whether the Penang State Government and/or DAP/Pakatan Rakyat agrees or not?

Yes, confusing, is it not? Sometimes the Minister has sole authority. Sometimes the Cabinet is the authority. Sometimes the Menteri Besar/Chief Minister has authority. Sometimes the State EXCO has authority. Sometimes Parliament has authority. Sometimes the EXCO Member has authority. Sometimes the Ruler has authority. Sometimes the Mufti has authority. Sometimes the Religious Department has authority. Sometimes the Attorney-General has authority. Sometimes the IGP has authority. Sometimes the OCDP has authority. Sometimes the CPO has authority. Sometimes the court is the authority.

And sometimes the dogcatcher is the final authority as to whether to kill the stray dogs by drowning or send them to a dog’s home.

***************************************

Lim Guan Eng’s Press Release today

The PR state government will not be deterred by BN’s support for the culture of political frogs but is determined to table a historic constitutional amendment to push through an anti-hopping law in the Penang state assembly meeting on 1 November 2012. The State Legal Advisor has been tasked with the necessary process of gazetting the proposed constitutional amendment.

Any amendment to the Penang state constitution requires a 2/3 majority and PR has the required numbers by holding 29 out of the 40 seats. All 3 parties in Penang PR of PAS, PKR and DAP have also supported the proposed constitutional amendment requiring State Assembly members who jump or change their party affiliation to resign and re-contest in a by-election.

BN and MCA have taken the opportunity to hit out at the Penang state government at yesterday’s MCA Annual General Assembly by dramatically labelling the proposed anti-hopping law as unconstitutional and that it will even creating a constitutional crisis that will be the very foundation of the Federal Constitution and the nation at risk. The Penang state government believes that the anti-hopping law should be within the Federal Constitution for 3 principal reasons.

One, it respects the democratic mandate of the people being kingmakers by allowing their constituents to either support or reject the decision of their elected representatives to hop from one party to another. As parliamentary democracy is the basis of our Federal Constitution, the anti-hopping law by reinforcing its democratic character will only serve to strengthen the Federal Constitution.

Two, the anti-hopping law does not infringe on a person’s right of freedom of association as he or she can join any party subject to a renewal of mandate by the constituents. Finally this will also ensure the practice of political accountability as well as principled values and public integrity in Penang, where elected representatives can not be traded like a commodity at the highest price.

BN and MCA’s condemnation of Penang PR’s anti-hopping laws provides a stark difference between BN’s focus on party interests and personalities as compared to PR emphasis on policies and people.

Lim Guan Eng

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

No word on apartheid but more attempts to control power in DAP? Fools do not understand that a political party is not a family business. DAP really needs to be taught a lesson for trying to force MPs to stay in the party. As per democracy, any MP can leave, but a by-election should be conducted immediately WITH that MP allowed to run for election so long as that MP has not yet spent a second term in office because the people may be on the MP’s side and not the party in individually considered cases. This current CM has spent 1.5 terms in office and the political culture has worsened since and become less democratic since DAP won in Penang. Time for 3rd Force parties to take over before DAP becomes a second PAP like in Singapore. They imagine synchronicity will work here to ensure DAP’s rule forever. That will not be so, DAP will be kicked out because DAP has failed to keep 90% of campaign promises and has been particularly antagonistic to the Muslims here.

ARTICLE 8

What Is A Private Attorney General

Private attorney general is an informal term usually used today in the United States to refer to a private party who brings a lawsuit considered to be in the public interest, i.e., benefiting the general public and not just the plaintiff.[1] The person considered “private attorney general” is entitled to recover attorney’s fees if he or she prevails. The rationale behind this principle is to provide extra incentive to private citizens to pursue suits that may be of benefit to society at large.

Many civil rights statutes rely on private attorneys general for their enforcement. In Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises,[2] one of the earliest cases construing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the United States Supreme Court ruled that “A public accommodations suit is thus private in form only. When a plaintiff brings an action . . . he cannot recover damages. If he obtains an injunction, he does so not for himself alone but also as a ‘private attorney general,’ vindicating a policy that Congress considered of the highest priority.” The United States Congress has also passed laws with “private attorney general” provisions that provide for the enforcement of laws prohibiting employment discrimination, police brutality, and water pollution. Under the Clean Water Act, for example, “any citizen” may bring suit against an individual or a company that is a source of water pollution.[citation needed]

Another example of the “private attorney general” provisions is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). RICO allows average citizens (private attorneys general) to sue those organizations that commit mail and wire fraud as part of their criminal enterprise.[citation needed] To date, there are over 60 federal statutes[citation needed] that encourage private enforcement by allowing prevailing plaintiffs to collect attorney’s fees.

Attorneys who function as a private attorney general do so without compensation. The statutes permitting a plaintiff to recover attorneys’ fees have been held not to apply when the plaintiff is an attorney.

Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Award Act

The U.S. Congress codified the private attorney general principle into law with the enactment of Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Award Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. § 1988. The Senate Report on this statute stated that The Senate Committee on the Judiciary wanted to level the playing field so that private citizens, who might have little or no money, could still serve as “private attorneys general” and afford to bring actions, even against state or local bodies, to enforce the civil rights laws. The Committee acknowledged that, “[i]f private citizens are to be able to assert their civil rights, and if those who violate the Nation’s fundamental laws are not to proceed with impunity, then citizens must have the opportunity to recover what it costs them to vindicate these rights in court.” Where a plaintiff wins his or her lawsuit and is considered the “prevailing party,” § 1988 acts to shift fees, including expert witness fees [at least in certain types of civil rights actions, under the Civil Rights Act of 1991, even if not in § 1983 actions], and to make those who acted as private attorneys general whole again, thus encouraging the enforcement of the civil rights laws. The Senate reported that it intended fee awards to be “adequate to attract competent counsel” to represent client with civil rights grievances. S. Rep. No. 94-1011, p. 6 (1976). The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the act to provide for the payment of a “reasonable attorney’s fee” based on the fair market value of the legal services.
Other uses

The term also refers more generally to any person who holds a general power of attorney from someone else, and also to any person who represents the public in any civil or criminal court proceeding. Most criminal prosecutions today in the United States and other countries in the Anglo-American legal tradition are conducted by public prosecutors who are public employees, but until the late 19th century most criminal prosecutions in the United States were conducted by private persons, usually but not always lawyers, either paid by private parties or asked by the court to serve pro bono. Private criminal prosecutions are still legal in several of those countries, including several states of the United States.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Henceforth with the correct facts and correct case, ALL citizens are Attorney Generals. Meanwhile Bar Council ignores all sorts of abuses in law and constitution . . .

Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s popularity or the “Ah Jib Gor” factor will help cajole a segment of the Chinese community back to Barisan Nasional (BN) in the coming polls, MCA grassroots leaders have agreed, but warned that the same sentiment could not topple the opposition in its urban fortresses.

This was the resounding sentiment among delegates attending the MCA’s 59th annual general meeting at Wisma MCA yesterday, which is seen as the party’s final chance to chart its election strategies in the months ahead as it heads into its toughest battle yet.

“Najib is good because he has done a lot of programmes for the people, I am sure the Chinese will vote BN,” said one delegate, Lim Chee Cheong, from Rasah in Negri Sembilan.

“Najib has done a lot for the Chinese. And he has our support and the Chinese community support as well,” another delegate, Loke Poh Chye from Pengkalan Kota in Penang, toldThe Malaysian Insider.

During the meeting earlier, among one of the key battle cries sounded by the party leadership was a call for delegates to “Stand with Najib”, who was extensively described as a leader popular among the Chinese.

In his presidential address, party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek repeatedly praised Najib’s transformative policies and attention to Chinese community issues, even telling the prime minister, “Sir, sometimes I think that you are too kind.”

At the MCA Youth AGM on Saturday, party deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai predicted that the MCA will “rise again” in the coming polls, citing Najib’s popularity among the Chinese community as one of the key reasons behind the possibility.

He said the prime minister’s outreach towards the Chinese community, even resorting to social media tools like Facebook to create a Chinese persona, “Ah Jib Gor” (Brother Najib), had successfully convinced voters that the community would not be left out of the nation’s development.

“The feel-good factor is coming back. And the commitment from the PM to the Chinese… the Ah Jib Gor factor shows that he will listen to the Chinese community,” Liow had said.

But despite these leaders’ optimism, several MCA delegates approached by The Malaysian Insider yesterday agreed that the party would suffer the most when attempting to sway the urban Chinese vote, pointing out that in areas like Petaling Jaya Selatan or key states like Penang, it would be near impossible for the MCA to trounce the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal opposition pact.

“I don’t think so we can win back PJ, they are entrenched already with the opposition. I don’t think we can take Penang back either,” said Loh KF, a delegate from the area.

Loh was among several delegates who also admitted that the issue of corruption would be among BN’s greatest stumbling block to woo the Chinese vote, complaining that it was hard to answer voters who brought up issues like the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal and other graft cases.

Tham was also critical of the MCA’s focus on hudud law, a wedge issue used against the DAP and PAS who are members of the PR opposition pact.

“Most Chinese already understand that the hudud issue is hands-off, it’s a religious question, very sensitive. This issue shouldn’t be commented upon.

“After all, hudud has already been implemented in many countries, why be scared if we do no wrong?” Tham said.

But his opinion was not shared by Tenggara MCA delegate Catherine Chia, from Johor.

Chia said the hudud issue was critical to be highlighted on as it affects Chinese culture and was demeaning towards women.

“I think this hudud will affect everybody, not only Chinese, the whole nation. If the nation is under hudud law, we will become just like the Middle East nations. And eight of the most corrupt nations come from that region,” Loke said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Hey MCA morons. How about ‘Ah Jib Peng’. (‘Peng’ = Friend or EQUAL / 朋友 or Péngyǒu). Who needs a ‘Gor’ (Older Brother in Hokkien dialect)? Who needs to be a Junior or a ‘Lek’ (Little brother in Hokkien dialect). MCA Pres. malay Title holding Minister Chua Soi Lek, just because your name has a ‘lek, does not mean that Najib is EVERYONE ELSE’S ‘Gor’ for the whole of the Chinese community. And given China’s size compared to Malaysia, how the hell can the Chinese Community be a ‘Lek’?

At very least equality. . . (and that is already stretching the fact that Malaysia is not even in USA’s league to be an equal to China . . . ) Lapdog Alert! Chua Soi Lek, has billions, the MCA has billions, if the MCA cannot even get equality for the Chinese, the MCA are a disgrace to the Chinese community, and already are term limitless as well.

Grant the below 3 items to justify the term limitlessness at very least or GTFO of Dewan! Weak and undemocratic! Shame on MCA! ‘Gor’?!? MCA = STUPID and COWARDLY . . . ‘Gor’ ? More like Gorean (S&M subculture) . . . more so when China is already starting to challenge USA no way will the Chinese be a ‘Lek’ – in fact the Chinese should be ‘Gor’! But this is not the Chinese way, so equality will be fine though the true situation should be that a Chinese PM will be insisted on by the Malays AS WELL AS EQUALITY so that China will be so pleased that they will invest in Malaysia more, than tolerate MCA’s misrepresentations and self serving manipulations – indirectly suffering dhmmitude of the local Malaysian Chinese by TACIT ASSENT via inaction . . . Grant the below 3 items to justify the term limitlessness at very least or GTFO of Dewan! Weak and undemocratic yet too wealthy as well!

Shame on MCA! ‘Gor’?!? Equal is all anyone will tolerate especially since the Malays could well be Yunnan Chinese who interbred with the Orang Asli (Austronesian Negritos) to become the mixed race calle ‘Malay’ after all! NO Big Brother mentality par excellence Ketuanan.

The MCA Youth chief says that it was only after the separation of politics and religion that the European countries prospered.

MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong attacked PAS for trying to return the country to the dark ages by implementing a theocratic state, which he said was a feudal political system.

In his opening address at the 48th MCA Youth Annual General Assembly meeting today, Wee said that the European countries have spent thousands of years to do away with a political system that combines with religion.

“It was only after the separation of politics and religion that saw the birth of the Renaissance and eventually the Industrial Revolution” he said

Wee told some 600 delegates that it would be mockery should PAS strive to reintroduce a system that had been abandoned by the world.

“We must remember that the democracy and human rights which we have today is the result of the separation of politics and religion.

“We must not allow PAS to return us to an age that has long past us. This ideology must be rejected by the people of this country,” he said.

He also took a jab at DAP’s inconsistency on the hudud issue, saying that the party chairman Karpal Singah and advisor Lim Kit Siang once made a strong stance against hudud law, but not the current leadership.

“The new generation of leadership in DAP has changed their stand by saying that there is no need to fear an Islamic state as long as you don’t steal or rob,” he said.

Later at a press conference, Wee was asked if MCA’s constant harping on hudud issues would translate to Chinese support to BN. Sarawak’s SUPP also highlighted the hudud issue but they did not do well in the state election last year.

Wee said the opposition’s reaction would not have been so great if the Chinese were not concerned by the hudud issue.

MCA deputy president Liow Tiong Lai, who was also at the press conference, believed in the Chinese’s wisdom to differentiate between a national election and a state election.

“(In a national election), you elect the federal government, where the Federal Constitution is of utmost importance to the nation. You can’t allow PAS to become the government to implement such a policy in this country,” he said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

BUT STILL no word for equality? Does Wee know that even without a Theocratic state which MCA has kindly chosen to fight against, that the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA still represents something as bad (though not twice as bad with Hudu as well?). China is virtually becoming the GREATEST nation on Earth at least for this next century as Russia builds up that Russian backyard . . . Wee should never accept less than equality for all Malaysians ESPECIALLY the Chinese minorities.

Malaysia can barely qualify to be China’s lackey or match Iran or even the USA. Don’t tell me that the Chinese do not deserve at very least equality in Malaysia, even when Malaysia will never ever be China’s equal. Since the Chinese are a majority and a eventual dominant power in the world, should the Chinese demand Special Privileges instead? The Malays are not giving the Chinese minorities face in Malaysia and thus are indirectly insulting China by refusing to grant equality. Think Minister Wee, as a Chinese where the China stands, don’t be complacent and term limitless.

BTW, MCA youth is not very youthful at all, youth ends the instance people get married or reach 18 or 21 years old, or in some considerations reach puberty. Wee is an old guy with wife and family ALSO multimillions worth, and term limitless to boot. I see no youth there. Wee is a big fat corrupted lapdog-grade boss type that probably has loads of mistresses and possibly drinks 50K in XO/VSOP on the weekends – youth? No way. Gotta be joking. Get some skinny callow (thats callow not sallow as in a certain LCW . . . sellouts to certain spiritual principles . . . ) unmarried AND poor, people to be ‘Youth’. MCA’s youth are middle aged and even OLD like Wee. Grant the below 3 items to justify the term limitlessness at very least or GTFO of Dewan! Weak and undemocratic!

Bruno Manser Fund says the probe into the RM40 million donation to Sabah Umno is ongoing.

A Swiss government investigation into the mystery donation of RM40 million to Sabah is still going on .

The Switzerland-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) said the case against UBS AG, a Swiss global financial services company operating out of Basel and Zurich, Switzerland, which is linked to the money, is continuing.

Lukas Straumann, director of BMF, confirmed that the investigation launched by the Swiss Attorney General is ongoing.

“It started on Aug 29 and is expected to take a couple of months at least until its conclusion,” he said in a message to his affiliates here.

The statement comes after the Dewan Rakyat was told on Oct 11 that the amount concerned that was seized by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) from a Sabah businessman at the Hong Kong International Airport in 2008 was a ‘political contribution’ to Sabah Umno by an unidentified donor.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz in a written reply to parliament on the outcome of the investigation into the affair denied that the seized amount was Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman’s money.

” From what we see, it is a very clear case of money-laundering. This is why the
official investigation was opened in the first place.”

He added that BMF has applied to be admitted as a private plaintiff in order to gain access to the case files.

“This might be a unique chance to find out more on the business between UBS and Musa because Swiss banking secrecy will be lifted during the investigation.

“Our position in this application is much stronger if we are backed by people from Sabah. This is why we seek to get plaintiffs from among Sabahans,” Straumann said referring to the BMF offer published in local news portal and also in its letters.

It is understood that several Sabahans have consented to be plaintiffs in the case being pursued in Switzerland.

Musa, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s point man in Sabah and the state’s longest serving Chief Minister has found himself in centre-stage after Sabah timber tycoon, Michael Chia Tien Foh, the man caught red-handed with S$16 million (about RM40 million) in his bag was detained by the ICAC in 2008.

Chia had allegedly told the ICAC that the money was not his but the Sabah Chief Minister’s. Musa subsequently denied all knowledge of Chia despite claims by Sabah businessmen that the two were close associates.

Nazri, who is also de facto Law Minister, has unwittingly added further controversy to the affair by sweeping it aside as a simple matter.

No explanation was given why the large amount of cash was being hand carried by Chia rather than through a an inter-bank transaction or how the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had come to the conclusion it was a political donation for Sabah Umno after investigating the case for four years.

Musa in a statement at the last Sabah State Assembly sitting said that he was not afraid of any investigation over the RM40 million and that the money was not his but Umno’s.

His remarks came days after Najib said in Kuala Lumpur that MACC had completed its investigation and that the papers were then with the Attorney-General, Abdul Gani Patail who is related to Musa through marriage.

While Nazri has claimed that the powerful ICAC wrapped up its case (perhaps through a government-to-government arrangement), it is not known for now how the Hong Kong-based Chia can escape prosecution as it is illegal for anyone to bring or take out such a large some of cash without a permit.

Chia’s link to Musa, who is also in charge of Yayasan Sabah which holds in trust for Sabahans large tracts of timber concession areas, was exposed by Sarawak Report which published online, flow charts of the money transactions that connected them.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Why does Nazri pretend there were no arrests? The EU and HK-ACC can obviously see whats happening.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand announced Saturday that Musa Hassan, who retired recently as Malaysia’s national police chief, would hold a Monday press conference in Bangkok with “new revelations” over the 2006 murder for hire of Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu.

“After her death it was revealed that she had been linked to the sale of two French-made submarines to Malaysia for US$1.3 billion – a deal under heavy suspicion of high-level corruption,” the FCCT announcement said. “The current Malaysian PM, Najib Razak, was then Minister of Defense and the national police chief was Musa Hassan. The revelations shook the Malaysian political landscape.”

Musa Hassan

It remains unsure if the announcement was a hoax. Attempts to reach Musa were unsuccessful. A Malaysiakini reporter said he has reached the former chief, but that Musa refused comment and said he hadn’t heard of the press conference. There was at least one error in the announcement — that Musa had quit as head of the police when he had actually retired with full honors. Although there have also been subsequent rumors that the press conference has been canceled, an FCCT officer told Asia Sentinel it appears to still be on, although it was moved from Oct. 19 to Monday.

The 60-year-old Musa retired on Sept. 13 after 41 years of service, the last six as national police chief. He was previously deputy inspector general. He has long been a controversial figure, having been investigated himself on allegations of corruption, particularly over the release of three members of illegal betting syndicates. Reform critics have accused him of using his police power to thwart investigations into corruption and to protect powerful figures in the government.

Officials with the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition said they had been caught off guard by the announcement that Musa would speak in Bangkok.

Local media reported earlier that Musa has been flirting with Parti Islam se-Malaysia, the fundamentalist Islamic component of the three-party opposition. Musa, however, has publicly denied he intended to join PAS. A source with Pakatan Rakyat told Asia Sentinel Musa had met with a top leader of PAS several months ago, but that the former police chief had no interest in politics and that it was unlikely he would join.

However, if anybody knows where the bodies are buried, so to speak, it would be Musa Hassan.

Six years ago, according to court testimony in a long-drawn-out Kuala Lumpur trial, bodyguards attached to the office of Najib, now the prime minister, dragged the translator and party girl out of a car into a patch of jungle near the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Shah Alam, As she begged for her life and apparently that of her unborn child, they knocked her unconscious, then shot her twice in the head.

Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, members of the elite Unit Tindakan Khas, then wrapped Altantuya’s body in C4 plastic explosives and blew her up, possibly to mangle her remains so badly that the fetus would be destroyed, according to a confession that Sirul made but which was never introduced in court despite its seeming validity.

In his cautioned statement, as confessions are called in Malaysia, the police corporal told authorities he and Azilah had been offered RM100,000 to kill the woman and her two companions, who were causing highly public embarrassment for Abdul Razak Baginda, Najib’s best friend. The 28-year-old Mongolian woman, in a letter found after her death, wrote that she was sorry she had been blackmailing Razak Baginda.

Ironically, if unknown persons hadn’t ordered Altantuya’s death, the story of the massive bribes for the purchase of the submarines would by this time probably have disappeared. Similar scandals with the same magnitude of questionable overpayments have since died down, one involving the purchases of Sukhoi jets and another involving the waste of hundreds of millions of dollars on a company owned by an United Malays National Organization crony to build patrol boats. However, continuing questions about her murder have kept the story alive.

As Asia Sentinel reported in June, French police records alleged that Razak Baginda was a central figure in a bribery case in which a total of nearly €150 million in payments were steered to two Razak Baginda companies, Perimekar Sdn Bhd and Terasasi Hong Kong Ltd from subsidiaries of DCN, the French defense giant, in connection with the purchase of the submarines by the Malaysian defense ministry. The records seized from DCN by the French police show that former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and the French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe were aware of the transactions. Memos obtained by Asia Sentinel show the French expected at least part of the money to be steered to UMNO, Malaysia’s biggest ethnic political party.

Despite a 14-month trial, neither the prosecutors, the defense nor the judge asked who had offered the RM100,000 payment to the two men. Najib’s chief of staff, Musa Safri, reportedly dispatched the two policemen to pick up Altantuya and her companions, who mercifully weren’t around.

Altantuya appears to have been killed at the behest of someone with considerable clout in Kuala Lumpur. If her dying statement to Sirul Azhar is to be accepted, as he recounted it in his confession, she appeared to have been carrying the baby of someone, perhaps high in power in Malaysia.

Najib has sworn on the Quran that he never met Altantuya, although she appears to have been in France at the same time as he was, accompanying Najib’s best friend, Razak Baginda. On June 11, 2005, for instance, Najib gave a press conference after having visited the site where the Scorpene submariners were being trained and, according to the log of an Australian submariner association, presented jackets made available by Perimekar – Abdul Razak Baginda’s company – to the crew.

After the arrest of the two bodyguards, eventually Abdul Razak Baginda was acquitted without having to put on a defense. There were a long string of irregularities in the trial, which as much as anything appeared to be designed on the part of the judiciary, the prosecution and perhaps the defense to make sure nobody in Najib’s office was investigated or called as witnesses.

The two bodyguards were convicted and sentenced to death. Their appeals were supposed to have been heard in February this year, eight months ago. Mysteriously their appeals have been delayed. They were supposed to be heard in August. They have been delayed again.

Last week Musa dropped a 2008 defamation suit against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim after Anwar accused him and Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail of conspiring to cover up a 1998 physical assault which left the then-imprisoned Anwar with a black eye and a permanent back problem. The dropping of the suit also fueled speculation that Musa was moving towards a rapprochement with the opposition. However, an opposition leader said the PR leadership was convinced he dropped the suit because he knew he wouldn’t be able to win it.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Send Interpol after the creeps! DAP did not keep 90% of campaign promises, (totally failed GE12’s Manifesto by which the voters cast their vote – those voters might as well vote for THEMSELVES as independents), no Local Councils, no asset declarations etc.. So that should mean DAP is also cheating, and are thieves of GE12, with nepotistic dictatorship at the top level in DAP that have caused near a score of top level member quits from DAP. The world now is indeed a global village.

ARTICLE 13

Who wants to be a millionaire? – Hornbill Unleashed – Mariam Mokhtar – October 20, 2012

To those who still doubt that Umno is the curse of the Malays, try cutting off the links between Umno and these people, and see what happens.

Most people are familiar with the song or TV game show “Who wants to be a millionaire?”. Had that question “Who wants to be a millionaire?” been put to Malaysians in the past, a majority of the rakyat would have responded, “Yes, I would”; but today, in Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s prosperous “1Malaysia”, the most likely reply from a Barisan Nasional crony would be a dismissive, “Huh. I’m already a multi-millionaire.”

The secret to success? Being an Umno politician, of course; but entry to this exclusive club is conditional upon selling one’s soul, integrity and mind, to serve a new master – Umno and all it stands for. So, while some Malays mock other religions for being idolatrous, they conveniently forget that they themselves worship the goddess Umno.

Umno uses religion for control. Umno’s brand of Islam is not to make better people out of the Malays, to ensure they live harmoniously with Malaysians of other faiths and to practise the tenets of their religion. Instead, Islam is used liberally in Umno politics, to subjugate and subdue the Malays. Few Malays speak up, because to be seen questioning Umno might be misconstrued as doubting Islam.

The intricate relationship between politics and business existed long before independence, but during former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s era, business and politics became inseparable. Under the guise of the NEP (New Economic Policy), the purpose of which was to lift the Malays out of poverty, Mahathir made some Malays millionaires, in what could only be described as an “overnight sensation”.

Umno expanded this business-cum-politics relationship, so that in today’s Malaysia, Najib makes no attempt to hide fraud and criminal activity; he just says it is for Umno, so it must be right. Najib does not even bother to deny that having close ties with Umno, will make Umno politicians and their cronies, members of the “millionaire’s club”.

Established businessmen, landowners, celebrity divas and VVIPs have all become millionaires, some with eight-figure fortunes, all because they pay homage to Umno. Civil servants, members of the judiciary, policemen and chief ministers all have the capacity to make several millions.

To those who still doubt that Umno is the curse of the Malays, try cutting off the links between Umno and these people, and see what happens. Imagine a child learning to ride a bicycle. The use of stabilisers will help. When these are removed, the child may tumble, but after a while, he will get the knack. Why are Malays so afraid of developing their own abilities?

At the event “Sepagi Bersama Perdana Menteri” (A morning with the prime minister) in Teluk Intan yesterday, Najib ridiculed the efforts of the opposition in bringing development to the country, but he was full of praise for BN’s track record and experience in development. He rubbished claims that the opposition coalition was stronger than BN.

Najib said, “The BN government knows that in shouldering the responsibility, we’ve got to have a sense of humanity and tawadduk [humility] to understand the aspirations of the people, to feel the pulse of people.”

Must win to survive

Talking about pulse, was Najib at all bothered that the son of one of his ministers can escape punishment after he and his bodyguard beat up men who are only doing their jobs? Would Najib care to comment on the high scale corruption of his ministers and why he is afraid of sacking them?

Did Najib sense the rakyat’s anger when Michael Chia attempted to smuggle RM40 million into the country? Was he aware that Sabah Umno members are furious that their party’s name was sullied? They believe that to protect Chief Minister Musa Aman, Najib claimed the money was meant for Sabah Umno. It is alleged that the money was Musa’s. One wonders how a chief minister would acquire that amount of cash.

Does Najib understand the rage of the rakyat when chief ministers abuse the public purse and use it for personal functions, like the recent wedding of the son of Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam, or last year’s scandal, when Najib was alleged to have abused his position and flown close friends and family to attend the engagement party of his daughter to the nephew of the Kazakhstan president?

Najib told the Perak crowd that despite the changing times, the guiding principles of BN had not altered and that it was necessary to have continuity: “The government should have continuity because if there is no continuity, the government can’t make long-term plans.”

Even a fool can see that Umno needs to win the 13th general election to survive. Umno needs to stay in power, to further ravage the country; Umno politicians need to raid the treasury to maintain their lifestyle. The alternative is a long prison term for robbing the nation, when the rakyat makes them answerable for their crimes.

Najib claimed that change was not good for the country because the people and nation would lose out: “As a developing country with a future, we need continuity, we need it not just for the sake of power, but for the people to get greater benefits under the BN.”

Najib might as well have said, “We need to continue to hoodwink you for Umno’s prolonged benefit.”

He then blamed the opposition for causing dissent among the masses, and teaching them a hatred of BN. He said that BN was confident of winning the GE13.

Naturally, Najib failed to mention the harassment of NGOs, civil liberty groups, the alternative media, the opposition and the ordinary members of the rakyat who have been championing true democracy. He omitted to say that his budget was an election budget.

Najib then told the 10,000-strong audience that BN had plans to develop the coastline of Perak and that the West Coast Expressway project would bring benefit to the people from Taiping to Banting.

Predictably, a few more BN cronies will become millionaires from this lucrative highway project, but most members of the rakyat will gain nothing.

Yesterday, Suaram teamed-up with youth movement Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) to train some 80 people on how to give ceramah on the issue in their respective constituencies.Human rights NGO Suaram has embarked on a programme to take information about the Scorpene submarine scandal to the masses in an attempt to fight back accusations by the authorities that it publicly lied on the issue.

The campaign plans to attract about 200 speakers, largely from opposition political parties, from around the country to focus on spreading the issue to the people, especially to villagers in the kampung.

NONEFormer Suaram director Cynthia Gabriel (left) yesterday conducted a ‘training of trainers’ programme for a group of people, made up mainly of PKR grassroots leaders from the northern region of the peninsula.

Cynthia spoke at length about the case during the two-hour session and distributed several documents on the explosive subject to the participants.

She explained the difference between the French and Malaysian court systems, saying that Suaram has always maintained that the case was being investigated by two Paris-based judges and not going through a full-blown trial in France.

The participants were also told that Suaram’s revelations on the Scorpene case have so far been based on French judicial papers.

The information was derived from findings made after Suaram filed a complaint against state-owned shipbuilder, DCNS, in 2009 for alleged payment of commissions, which is illegal in France, to top Malaysian officials for the purchase of the two Scorpene-class submarines.

Demonising Suaram

Cynthia was referring to a recent statement by French prosecutor Yves Charpenel, who was quoted by New Straits Times as saying that, despite claims by Malaysian online media, there was no trial going on in the Scorpene case.

Charpenel’s statement on this was then corrected by Suaram’s Paris-based lawyer, William Bourdon, who said the “inquiry is ongoing” and the question of a trial on the Scorpene matter would be decided by the investigating judges and not by the prosecutor.

NONE“Since the BN-controlled media and the government are all out todemonise and harass Suaram and its efforts to promote transparency and accountability in military spending, which amounts to billions of the rakyat’s money, we have no choice but to take this issue to the ground,” Cynthia said.

“Since it is impossible for us to be everywhere, we are happy to work with various groups that are interested in the truth and can help us share it with the people,” she said.

By harassment, Cynthia was referring to the action of six government agencies probing Suaram, which has been active since Operasi Lalangin 1987 when 106 social and political activists were detained under the Internal Security Act.

Cynthia and her team later spoke at a Bersih event in Padang Serai featuring the coalition’s co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan, before launching the Jelajah Scorpene campaign with SAMM in Telok Ayer Tawar late last night.

‘Mother of all issues’

SAMM chairperson Badrul Hisham Shaharin told PKR political speakers to equip themselves with proper knowledge about the Scorpene scandal that cost the country RM7.3 billion.

NONEHowever, Badrul Hisham, who is widely known as Chegu Bard, cautioned them not to be too technical so that the crowd they were speaking to fully understood the details of the deal, which was inked in 2002 when Najib Abdul Razak was defence minister.

Badrul reminded the audience that Najib, who is now prime minister, and Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, may have to attend the court in France should they be subpoenaed.

Najib and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin have refused to respond when asked about the inquiry in Paris, while Ahmad Zahid made a U-turnabout testifying in the matter, after having said earlier that he was prepared to.

Two of Najib’s former bodyguards were charged with the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, who is believed to be involved in the deal.

abdul razak baginda pc 201108 05Najib’s close associate, defence analyst Abdul Razak Baginda (right), was charged with abetting them in the murder, but he was acquitted without his defence being called.

“The Scorpene issue is the mother of all issues and we plan to make it the main issue during the coming general election,” Badrul in his speech at the launch of the campaign.

“This issue has opened a can of worms and revealed so many other issues, including possible corruption, transparency and accountability issues, rakyat’s money being wasted on military spending and the murder of a Mongolian national,” added the former PKR Youth leader.

Najib has denied any involvement in the case and the Defence Ministry insists that the deal was done above board.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

DAP makes no attempt to fight back accusations by the authorities that it publicly lied on the issue of 90% failed campaign promises – failed Local Council Elections, no declarations of MP assets, and many others that caused near a score of top level defections in DAP so far . . . why doesn’t Suaram take DAP to task? Selective persecution by SUARAM shows lack of ethics. Quangocrat alert! And with this sort of collusive mindset guess what will happen to Democracy when DAP entrenches itself? Vote 3rd Force!

5 native Iban farmers were this morning charged in the Magistrates Court in Serian this morning.

Village Headman Nyalu Anak Tampa, together with 2 other farmers Sanjan Anak Ambol and Samad Anak Junna, were jointly charged under section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt to Andrew Wong King Kiat, an administrative executive of United Teamtrade Sdn Bhd, a company issued with a provisional lease for 73,000 ha oil plam plantation over the land of which the 3 accused claimed are NCR land of Kampung Danau Melikin and 22 other Iban native communities in the area.

Another Danau Melikin farmer Donny Anak Mambu was accused of using an excavator under his control to damage a bridge across Sg Danau on 27.08.2012 and is charged under section 427 of the Penal Code for mischief and causing damage to the amount of RM25 or upwards.

In the other case, an aged farmer Balon Ak Giang was charged for criminal intimidation, that he had on 27.08.2012 verbally threatened to cause hurt to the oil palm estate manager Lee Beng Sing with the words “kamu jangan kerja sini kalau kamu kerja lagi saya bunuh tembak kamu” (You can’t work here and if you do that I will shoot and kill you).

The prosecuting officer informed the court that in both the cases of Donny Anak Mambu and Balon Ak Giang, though separately charged, were one single transaction and witnesses are the same. He applied for the 2 cases to be jointly tried.

All the accused pleaded not guilty and they were each released on RM5000 court bail with one surety each.

The presiding Magistrate Puan Portia Tham ordered the case against Village Headman Nyalu Anak Tampa, Sanjan Anak Ambol and Samad Anak Junna to be managed on 12 November and trial date is scheduled for 3 December 2012.

In the 2 cases involving Donny Anak Mambu and Balon Ak Giang, the Magistrate ordered for case management on 31 October 2012 and trial on 13 October 2012.

Lawyers Baru Bian, See Chee How and Desmond Kho, who appeared in the Serian Magistrate Court this morning, are representing the 5 native accused from Kampung Danau Melikin.

More than 150 other native villagers also crowded the Serian Magistrate Court to show their support for the 5 accused.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

File for secession then throw out all charges, throw out all colonialists, all non-locals and make your own country. Only the East Malaysian locals have rights to any East Malaysian land, and the federal ‘laws’ are written to take those lands especially offensively ancestral lands away! I’m sure the village elders will know who was around before East Malaysia was stolen with obviously illegal laws! BN or PR, also 3rd Force, return all stolen lands or expect secession!

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — Pandemonium broke in the Dewan Rakyat this morning when Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia announced a blanket ban on all motions filed by MPs to cut the salaries of ministers, a move traditionally used by lawmakers to push through a no-confidence vote.

Pandikar, when addressing the House, reasoned that he had conducted a detailed study on the matter and discovered that no other parliamentary democracies in the world debate such motions.

“The reason is because should this be allowed, it goes against the question of privilege,” he pointed out.

“Next, the justifications (for the motion), which in the past were always used, are justifications that have already been touched on during policy stage debates,” Pandikar (picture) added.

The Speaker acknowledged that such pay-cut motions under Standing Order 66(9) should not be used for such purposes as this would be tantamount to an abuse of the provision.

Standing Order 66(9) states: Any member may move an amendment to the schedule to reduce by RM……… the sum to be allotted for any head of expenditure in respect of any sub-head or item therein, but at least two clear days’ notice of such amendment shall be given.

“If I allow it, and it is debated, and accepted by the House, a question of law will be raised, which is the right of an individual to receive a salary, meaning the minister has a right to a salary; this cannot be taken by the House.

“When this is taken into consideration, I think it is inappropriate for us to prolong this precedent,” he said, to objections from several opposition parliamentarians.

When the MPs stood to object to his decision, the Speaker cited Standing Order 57(4) that allows him to reject any motion if he felt that the justifications given were “frivolous”.

Arguing, Pua told Pandikar that the motions had been rejected without allowing their applicants to state the justifications for filing them.

Teo also disagreed with the Speaker’s assertions, pointing out that she had not raised her justifications during policy stage debates earlier as she had meant to raise them when the motion was debated during committee stage.

In the past, such pay-cut motions were automatically allowed for debate during the committee stage.

At a press conference outside chambers later, the opposition MPs revealed that in Pandikar’s letter rejecting the motions, the Speaker had “created” three conditions, which he said was necessary if motions under Standing Order 66(9) were to be tabled in the future.

According to the letter distributed to the media here, Pandikar had said that such motions must clearly state the pay cut amount being sought, reasons for the cut, and detailed justifications for the reasons.

“The Speaker was contradicting himself… in the letter he tells us that we did not give justifications and we should do so under Standing Order 66(9) but then he used his power as Speaker to reject the motion on the grounds that the justifications given were ‘frivolous’,” Pua said.

Agreeing, Teo said the House should first move to amend the Standing Orders to include these three conditions, instead of allowing the Speaker to “abuse” his power by imposing them without allowing debate.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

. . . “If I allow it ” . . . If every other or even a minority number of MPs want to discuss this the Speaker cannot deny them the right. Time to vote for another Speaker? Voters really need to kick out BN . . . and at least drop 50% of DAP’s term limitless and nepotism corrupted ranks.

Parliament should consider censuring Minister Nazri Aziz for giving completely contradictory answers in parliament within the short interval of one week in respect of the contraband S$16 million cash seized in Hong Kong International Airport which both Nazri and Prime Minister Najib Razak denied that it was Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman’s money, claiming it was donation to Sabah Umno.

It should also consider rebuking Prime Minister Najib for having irresponsibly denied that the illegal attempt by Michael Chia Tien Foh to board the plane with the contraband cash was not an act of smuggling cash in breach of law, simply because Nazri has made some dubious statements in parliament.

On Oct 11, answering MP Chua Tian Chan, Nazri stated that the Attorney General (AG) had decided that corruption was not proven, based on the reports submitted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Nazri further stated that, based on this outcome of MACC’s investigation, Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) did not take any further action.

However, answering MP Tan Kok Wai on Oct 11, Nazri said investigation carried out on the case was not done by MACC, but by Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), which had subsequently stated that there was no corruption in this case.

One moment, it was MACC’s investigation that led to AG’s verdict of no corruption. But the next moment: no, it was not MACC, but ICAC which investigated and concluded that there was no corruption.

MULTIIPLE CONTRADICTIONS

The contradictions are puzzling.

Could it be that Nazri thought our AG and MACC’s credibility might not be good enough for Malaysians, and decided to attribute the findings to the world famous ICAC noted for its anti-corruption prowess, hoping to get better reception from Malaysians? Otherwise, how could he reconcile the two completely contradictory statements?

In fact, Nazri not only has problem reconciling these two different statements, but he also has problem reconciling both these statements against a MACC statement a few days earlier.

On Oct 5, MACC’s deputy chief commissioner (operations) Shukri Abdul said that investigation on the Hong Kong contraband cash case was still ongoing as its review panel requested for further investigation.

Apart from these multiple contradictions thrown by Nazri to parliament, his claim that ICAC has concluded that there is no corruption is also fishy.

This is evident from the fact that the S$16 million cash seized on 14th August 2008 was only released at the end of the statutory retention period limit of three years, when ICAC failed to wrap up the case due reportedly to Malaysian government’s refusal to extend co-operation in the investigation. If there was no case as claimed by Nazri and Najib, would the Hong Kong authorities have kept the money for the full legally allowable period of three years?

In fact, Michael Chia was arrested and investigated for both offences of money smuggling and money laundering.

NAJIB’S DENIAL IRRESPONSIBLE

Sneaking out the country with large amount of cash in breach of law is called smuggling money. I fail to see how Najib could claim it was not smuggling just because his minister Nazri has answered some questions in parliament – and badly answered at that, I must add.

Answering a question in a press conference on Oct 19 whether there was any basis to claims that the money was smuggled or laundered through Hong Kong, Najib answered curtly: “No. It has already been explained in parliament”. By that, Najib was of course referring to Nazri’s duplicitous answers abovementioned.

It is most unbecoming of the prime minister to base his answer to such a serious scandal on such a shady foundation.

Members of parliament should seek the following from Nazri in parliament, in addition to asking him to explain the many contradictions in his abovementioned statements:

1. Full disclose of the communications between the governments of Hong Kong and Malaysia on this issue; in particular a) whether ICAC has forwarded its findings to MACC including the money flow chart trailing the Sabah timber corruption money all the way to Musa Aman’s UBS AG account in Zurich, b) whether ICAC has requested for inter-country co-operation, c) whether ICAC has categorically stated that there was no corruption in the case and that it has ceased to pursue the case further.

2. When did MACC start its investigation, and whether it is still on-going. If so, why it has not been able to complete the task after such a lengthy investigation.

3. What role the AG has played in this case – in relation to the Hong Kong authorities and in relation to the Malaysian government, in particular, MACC.

Unless Nazri is forthcoming with satisfactory answers, he should be censured and referred to parliamentary select committee (privileges and power) for further probing.

Bruno Manser Fund says the probe into the RM40 million donation to Sabah Umno is ongoing.

KOTA KINABALU: A Swiss government investigation into the mystery donation of RM40 million to Sabah is still going on .

The Switzerland-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) said the case against UBS AG, a Swiss global financial services company operating out of Basel and Zurich, Switzerland, which is linked to the money, is continuing.

Lukas Straumann, director of BMF, confirmed that the investigation launched by the Swiss Attorney General is ongoing.

“It started on Aug 29 and is expected to take a couple of months at least until its conclusion,” he said in a message to his affiliates here.

The statement comes after the Dewan Rakyat was told on Oct 11 that the amount concerned that was seized by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) from a Sabah businessman at the Hong Kong International Airport in 2008 was a ‘political contribution’ to Sabah Umno by an unidentified donor.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz in a written reply to parliament on the outcome of the investigation into the affair denied that the seized amount was Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman’s money.

” From what we see, it is a very clear case of money-laundering. This is why the official investigation was opened in the first place.”

He added that BMF has applied to be admitted as a private plaintiff in order to gain access to the case files.

“This might be a unique chance to find out more on the business between UBS and Musa because Swiss banking secrecy will be lifted during the investigation.

“Our position in this application is much stronger if we are backed by people from Sabah. This is why we seek to get plaintiffs from among Sabahans,” Straumann said referring to the BMF offer published in local news portal and also in its letters.

It is understood that several Sabahans have consented to be plaintiffs in the case being pursued in Switzerland.

Musa, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s point man in Sabah and the state’s longest serving Chief Minister has found himself in centre-stage after Sabah timber tycoon, Michael Chia Tien Foh, the man caught red-handed with S$16 million (about RM40 million) in his bag was detained by the ICAC in 2008.

Chia had allegedly told the ICAC that the money was not his but the Sabah Chief Minister’s. Musa subsequently denied all knowledge of Chia despite claims by Sabah businessmen that the two were close associates.

Nazri, who is also de facto Law Minister, has unwittingly added further controversy to the affair by sweeping it aside as a simple matter.

No explanation was given why the large amount of cash was being hand carried by Chia rather than through a an inter-bank transaction or how the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had come to the conclusion it was a political donation for Sabah Umno after investigating the case for four years.

Musa in a statement at the last Sabah State Assembly sitting said that he was not afraid of any investigation over the RM40 million and that the money was not his but Umno’s.

His remarks came days after Najib said in Kuala Lumpur that MACC had completed its investigation and that the papers were then with the Attorney-General, Abdul Gani Patail who is related to Musa through marriage.

While Nazri has claimed that the powerful ICAC wrapped up its case (perhaps through a government-to-government arrangement), it is not known for now how the Hong Kong-based Chia can escape prosecution as it is illegal for anyone to bring or take out such a large some of cash without a permit.

Chia’s link to Musa, who is also in charge of Yayasan Sabah which holds in trust for Sabahans large tracts of timber concession areas, was exposed by Sarawak Report which published online, flow charts of the money transactions that connected them.ARTICLE 19

Whose money is Musa holding?’ – FMT Staff – July 3, 2012

Sabah Chief Minister Musa has claimed that a large part of his multi-million fortune held in foreign accounts is not privately owned by him.

Musa allegedly told Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers that the money in question traced to a bank in Zurich, Switzerland and under investigation by banking and criminal investigation agencies overseas was not his but Umno’s, said a senior PKR official.

PKR vice president Tian Chua who is also MP for Batu, said Najib must explain Musa’s alleged statement linking Umno and therefore the government to the hitherto secret party slush fund.

The money is part of a large sum being traced by international investigative reporters including of online media, Sarawak Report, who published details of transactions connecting Musa, Sabah businessman Michael Chia as well as many in Malaysian and Swiss banking in questionable financial deals crisscrossing several countries.

When Chia was caught with S$16 million cash in Hong Kong few years ago, he reportedly told the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that the money belonged to Musa.

Musa however immediately denied knowing Chia and by inference anything about the money.

However pictures of them together and details of transactions including payments to Musa’s two sons in Australia were then exposed by the online media raising further questions about the matter.

This prompted more information being exposed by authorities in Zurich, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

According to Tian Chua, on June 15, PKR deputy secretary general Darell Leiking, parliamentarian Sivarasa Rasiah and he held a press conference in the Parliament House questioning the government’s inaction despite detailed information becoming public of a money laundering operation that has implicated Musa.

“On June 21, I received a reply from the prime minister on the status of the investigation of corruption allegations against Musa following the arrest of Michael Chia in Hong Kong.

“The answer from PM stated that MACC had provided full cooperation with Hong Kong ICAC and had completed the investigation. Presently the file is on the table of Attorney-General but so far no action has been taken,” he said.

Funds ‘held in trust’

Tian Chua said the case received new attention when NGO activist Prof Monika Roth filed a suit against Swiss UBS Bank linking the bank with the money laundering operations in Sabah.

However, once again, there was total silence from the Malaysian government, he said.

“A few days ago, I received a mysterious phone call from an unknown person who claimed that he was a staff member of MACC.

“He revealed that the MACC had initiated a new investigation on Musa where he was interviewed by several MACC officers on a date not told to me.

“Musa defended his actions and told the MACC officers to “check their facts with the prime minister.”

“Musa claimed that a large part of his multi-million fortune held in foreign currency accounts overseas was not privately owned by him.

“Instead it was held in trust on behalf of Umno. Now the public is eager to know whether this is true, and if the PM is aware of this.

“As the phone call was confidential and I had no means to verify the information, I hereby call upon the PM to step forward to clarify whether the MACC had initiated a new investigation on Musa.

“I also call on (Attorney-General) Abdul Gani Patail to step aside vis-a-vis the investigation related to Musa as it is clear that the AG is unable to convince the public of his impartiality,” said Tian Chua.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Why did Nazri say there were no arrests when the Hong Kong’s Anti-corruption police can corroborate that there were arrests? Is? Is Malaysian becoming a information blackout or media spin nation? Fortunately mass media is so proliferated now. What was buried in the past before the mass media and internet age? –

(Malaysian Digest) – PKR-linked NGO Jingga 13 has questioned a top politician over how a former maid has managed to afford a luxurious RM100,000 house in Indonesia.

Jingga 13 coordinator Fariz Musa, who submitted a memorandum to the office of the said politician yesterday, alleged that the maid could not have purchased the house based on her low income earned in Malaysia.

“If she (the maid) hadn’t spent a single cent from her (few) years’ salary, with a RM300 monthly salary for the first few years, increased to RM500 after that, we don’t think she could save even RM50,000.”

He claimed that the maid has remained unemployed since 2007, after her return to Indonesia,

When asked how the NGO obtained their information, Fariz said Jingga 13’s investigative team video-interviewed the maid in Indonesia in March 2012.

“Our accompanying Indonesian friends have told us that her house is estimated at RM100,000.”

“The photos that we took of it show that the fencing and furniture are specially-designed. We think they are not cheap.”

Pressed on whether the maid has informed the funding source of her new house, Fariz replied that the maid was afraid to speak “because of Malaysian official restrictions” and that her husband kept interrupting during the interview.

Fariz said he will refer the matter to the Indonesian embassy and subsequently lodge a report to police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Ahmad Abd Jalil is being investigated over allegedly seditious remarks he had made against the Johor Sultan on his Facebook page. – Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — The family members of Ahmad Abd Jalil, who was arrested on Friday for insulting the Johor Sultan, is pleading with the police not to permit the palace authorities to haul the youth to the royal house for an apology.

The family, responding to talks that Ahmad may be brought personally before the Sultan to apologise for his remarks, expressed fear today over the safety of the 27-year-old if he were to be taken to the palace.

According to an SMS from Ahmad’s sister to one of the family’s lawyer late last night, the police had told her mother that, “if the palace calls, they (the police) would be forced to bring Ahmad to face the Sultan”.

“If they want my son to apologise, bring him to court. Once he enters someone else’s territory, anything can happen and we wouldn’t know who to blame,” Ahmad’s father Abd Jalil Abd Rahman told The Malaysian Insider today.

“Everyone has to respect the due process of the law. And if they want to take my son to court to extract an apology, then so be it.

“Do not force him into palace custody where we have no control over. We are Penangites. We are not used to having a Sultan and we have heard many horror stories. This is our right,” he added.

The 60-year-old former government servant said the police have so far refused all attempts by his family to visit Ahmad, who was arrested in Kuala Lumpur at 8pm on Friday and transferred into the Johor police custody the same night.

As at noon today, Abd Jalil said he will be meeting with the investigating officer in Ahmad’s case.

“We hope to have a positive outcome from the meeting… I just want to see my son,” he said, adding that if it would look bad on the police if they were to forbid him from doing so.

In an SMS to The Malaysian Insider, Ahmad’s older brother agreed with his father in saying that the youth must be kept safely away from the palace compound.

“It is wrong to extract him from the balai/lokap to anywhere. We an apologise but thru proper procedures. Ahmad will apologise openly at court.

“Otherwise, we condone that the system is being used as ‘mode of ugutan (threat)’,” he said in the text message.

Ahmad is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, believed to be over allegedly seditious remarks he had made against the Johor Sultan on his Facebook page.

He was picked up from his office at around 8pm in Cheras yesterday by several plainclothes policemen before he was brought to the Wangsa Maju police station for questioning.

According to Ahmad’s lawyer Mohd Zakwan Adenan yesterday, the youth was at first not informed of his offence, except that he was allegedly being investigated under the Sedition Act 1948.

“They said they wanted to charge him under the Sedition Act for remarks he made on Facebook but when we asked the police which statement they were referring to, they could not answer,” he said.

Section 4(1) stipulates that any person who utters, prints or publishes any seditious words, on conviction, would be liable for a first offence to a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.

After interrogating him for several hours at the Wangsa Maju police station yesterday, the police raided Ahmad’s parents’ house in Damansara Damai before taking the youth with them to Johor.

At 3pm yesterday, Ahmad was taken before a Johor magistrate by the police to obtain a three-day remand order.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The reverse could be said of having the case in Penang and the more urban areas of Malaysia, where the animosity towards all Sultans (who due to tacit approval of Bumiputra Apartheid, contributes in substantial measure to this sort of disafffection, or in some uncommon cases monopoly like involvement in business sectors when the mere exalted position of Ruler should be quite enough to not feel inclined to compete with the citizens in government for evidently commercial projects – well maybe consultative roles for favourite related projects i.e. trains . . .) could be intentionally used to dismiss the case intentionally to make a salient point about apartheid (minorities) or absolutism (non-Royalist/anti-royalist Malays) rather than to administer justice which in this case, should be an equitable apology to the the measure of insult offered on the social networking site simply to show magnanimity rather than petty mindedness.

Malaysian judges and the legal system in Malaysia are not impartial, and always are politically motivated rather than professionalism or justice motivated, as much as the Bar Council does not address the lack of :

;for the Bar Council’s own political or financial (contract) based profit. I had written on the apartheid issue to every individual Sultan before and had no response whatsoever. Perhaps the letters were intercepted as so many other communications might have been. And due this, or simply crypto-racism, if not authoritarianism, I received no response on the matter whatsoever as any civil society might have and issues like the above continue to mar relations between the intended as symbolic rulers and and the masses. Stature and privilege should be enough to even ignore this sort of insult, the palace certainly has the resources to unofficially argue back without getting directly involved but from the looks of this sandiwara which might well have ulterior motives of sounding out the pop-ulace’s less well written to identify those against the palace, has chosen to get directly involved instead.

KUALA LUMPUR, — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was inspired by Germany’s past policy of limiting Jewish financial influence to help the Malays but it was later thwarted by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, former Cabinet minister Tan Sri Sanusi Junid said today.

Sanusi told a Malay economic forum that Dr Mahathir and former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin were hoping that Malays would control the economy but when they saw progress was slow, they decided to follow the German example of not granting banking licences to Jews.

But the plan failed when Anwar became finance minister and approved two banking licences to non-Malay banking groups — Alliance Bank and Hong Leong Bank.

“We thought that if we can’t control the economy, we would follow Germany,” Sanusi said at the Malay Economic Congress here. “In Germany banking licences are not given to the Jews.”

He said while pre-existing licences had been given to non-Malays, Daim made sure that all banks had Malay directors, which was important to ensure all banks had Malay influence.

Sanusi said that as a result there are now “two non-Malay banks without Malay influence.”

Malaysia’s banking system was formerly largely controlled by the Chinese but many were taken over by or forced to merge with government-controlled entities.

The loss of Chinese-founded banking institutions is widely perceived by the Chinese community as of one of the ways they have been discriminated against under the guise of helping the Bumiputera community.

The Umno-led Barisan Nasional government however had previously maintained that direct intervention was required to uplift the Bumiputeras and that mergers would help create stronger banks that could withstand globalisation.

The Najib administration has said however that it will gradually liberalise the financial sector and any banking mergers should now be based on market forces.

Sanusi also said at the forum that Malays were unable to accumulate wealth as while they earned money, it was ultimately spent in non-Malay businesses.

“Who is rich? We are? Where is the money? There is none. It goes through the channels of non-Malays. The money only passes through Malays and that’s why we are unable to accumulate,” he said.

The former Kedah mentri besar noted that normally political power is held by those who have economic power.

“But Malays have political power because they are smart,” he said.

–The Malaysian Insider

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Malays smart? No really overall – listen in to the translated debates and one will find all kinds of stupidity and also unstatemanlike behaviour and words . . . Maybe they make good thieves of conscience and destroyers of Human Rights worthy ideals and UN politically correct aspirations that are the mainstay of civilisation. The other reasons are because the Chinese don’t know if the army and police will be fair because the Chinese don’t know if the army and police will be fair in the event of a 2nd race riots and finally because MCA/MIC/Gerakan/PPP etc.. are not very brave in fighting apartheid as well is greedy and corrupt, is why the Malays have political power.

Asri described the battle over whether Malaysia is a secular or Islamic state as akin to a fight over “branding”. — File pic
SHAH ALAM, Oct 24 ? The debate over Malaysia’s Islamic nation status has been described as a “branding” quarrel by popular cleric Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, who said a secular nation that is fair is better than an Islamic country that exploits religion.

The Federal Constitution is Malaysia’s supreme law but minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said this week that the country was never declared a secular nation; he stopped short, however, of calling it an Islamic state as declared by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“You can name the country as an Islamic country but you exploit Islam, for what? You name the country secular but give the people rights; that is better. The most important (thing) is the values carried. People like to exploit brands.

“However, I am not interested in terms; I am more interested with the content of a country,” the former Perlis mufti told The Malaysian Insider after the 15th Sinar Harian Wacana titled “Ulama’s Role, Advising Leaders (Peranan Ulama, Menasihati Pemimpin)” at the Karangkraf Complex yesterday.

“I ask from PAS especially, don’t fight about branding. We have to think whether social justice can be carried out in a multiracial country,” he said, talking about the Islamist party that has accused Umno of using a secular constitution inherited from the British colonial masters.

Repeated accusations from PAS led then-prime minister Dr Mahathir to announce in 2001 that Malaysia is an Islamic state, in his bid to regain support from the Malay community who had voted for the opposition in the 1999 general election.

Mohd Asri, who resumed teaching in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) after leaving his post as Perlis mufti, agreed that Malaysia was an Islamic state rather than secular.

“The definition of Islamic state is when the country is controlled by Muslims and at least part of the Islamic laws (Syariah laws) are implemented; that is enough.

“The strongest proof that Malaysia is an Islamic state (is) when we Muslims in Malaysia demand for Islam (to be) strengthened in the country,” said the scholar who ironically was arrested by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) in 2009 for allegedly being linked with spreading puritanical Wahabi teachings from Islam’s birthplace, Saudi Arabia.

Then-JAIS director Datuk Mohammed Khusrin Munawi said Mohd Asri’s arrest was for lecturing without approval and not for any other offence.

But Dr Mohd Asri pointed out that being Islamic did not mean forcing non-Muslims to comply with religious laws and practises.

“We cannot demand the non-Muslim to pray, we have to recognise he’s a Muslim first, then only we ask him to fast.

“When we ask our country to practise Islam, that means we recognise that it is basically Islamic,” he said.

Dr Mahathir claimed yesterday that Malaysia is “by definition” a Muslim country since it is acknowledged as such by the Muslim world.

“We don’t care about what these people say in order to make it a political issue,” he added, referring to the ongoing debate about whether Malaysia is a secular state.

The former PM also expressed his disappointment that the hudud issue was being politicised by those who are pushing for its implementation.

“(This kind of) hudud, which is used for politics, is not exactly hudud,” he stressed. “It is hudud used to give victory over one side.

“Pity the Muslim. If he steals, his hand will be chopped off. But his (non-Muslim) friend who steals together with him will only get two months in jail. Is that fair? That is not Islam.”

On Monday, Nazri said in Parliament that Malaysia was never declared or endorsed as a secular state, saying that the word “secular” was not found in the Federal Constitution.

Dr Mohd Asri said the issue of naming Malaysia as a secular or Islamic country frequently became polemic as general elections draw near.

“But we have to know countries don’t enter heaven or hell, (the ones) that enter heaven or hell are humans. So we have to correct not just the branding of the country only but what we have to correct is the contents of the country.

“A sign that a country is Islamic (is) when it truly fulfils the responsibilities of its rule to the rakyat.

“Leaders carry out their responsibilities, the people carry out their responsibilities. Where there’s justice, God’s syariat is there. No matter what you name the country.”

The debate over the country’s status continues as the 13th general election draw near, with the Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s mandate ending by April next year.

In Election 2008, BN lost its traditional two-thirds majority and the five states of Selangor, Perak, Pulau Pinang, Kedah dan Kelantan to federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR), a pact composed of PKR, DAP dan PAS.

Perak has since fallen back into BN’s fold after the defection of several lawmakers from PR.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The only spot of good news [except the ‘an’] in quite some while. Does Dr.Mohd Asri believe in :

If so, make clear your intent Dr.Asri, if Najib is mentally incapable of doing at least this despite all the power and mandate and respect, how about Asri make an attempt for the betterment of humanity (and becoming a future moderate face of Islam and also a secular PM who understands that non-muslims have a right to their entertainments) raising the stature of Malays, granting Malays who do not want Islam equality, or Malays who do not need Apartheid and would speak for their minority friends and fellow citizens, by endorsing the above 3 items with intent to grant and getting as many less than 2 term MPs as possible to sign on under penalty of vacating the political seat? HONESTY please, not subversion or faux conversions of critics of Islam which will make islam into a petty and insane cult rather than a bona fide religion.

ARTICLE 25

The Feds are Dangerous to the Rights of Minorities – by Mike Maharrey

Jose owns a little market on a big-city street corner. Business is pretty good, but he has a problem with neighborhood thugs coming in – shoplifting, harassing customers and basically making a nuisance of themselves. Jose deals with them as best he can, shooing off troublemakers with a little intimidation of his own manufactured by Louisville Slugger. Every once in a while he calls the cops.

Business continues to grow.

Then one day, Bruno walks into the store. Bruno serves as muscle for the largest gang in the city. He suggests that his syndicate can provide “protection” for a nominal fee. Bruno strongly suggests Jose accept the generous offer.

Of course, Jose ponies up the cash. Sure enough, the neighborhood thugs disappear. No more petty theft. No more loitering. No more customer harassment. But every so often, Bruno makes a visit. Jose knows that a visit from Bruno means the cost of protection is about to rise. On top of that, Bruno’s associates eventually begin dropping in frequently at the store. They help themselves to merchandise, intimidate customers and basically create a nuisance.

But unlike the neighborhood thugs who used to cause problems, Jose can’t merely shoo Bruno’s people away with a baseball bat. He tried it once. They quickly reminded him that they work for Bruno. Bruno runs the neighborhood for the syndicate. Jose can’t even call the cops. They won’t come. Bruno’s boss has them under his thumb. Jose knows he stands powerless to halt the mischief.

While it caused some difficulties and cost him a little money, Jose was able to deal with the unorganized neighborhood thugs that used to hassle him. But he finds he had no control whatsoever over Bruno and his clan.

During a recent discussion about devolving power back to the states and constraining the federal government in its constitutionally prescribed role, a big-government proponent argued that we must maintain a strong hand in Washington D.C. to protect minorities.

“The states have proved they can’t be trusted to protect the rights of the people, especially minorities,” he quipped.

This narrative has dominated American politics since the 1950s. Southern governors and legislators appealed to the idea of “states’ rights” to perpetuate segregation. Mention state sovereignty and proponents of a strong federal government will quickly call up images of Birmingham police officers firing water cannons at black people, and remind us that Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus ordered National Guard troops to block the entrance of Little Rock Central High School in order to keep nine African-American students out. Most Americans consider the victories in the Civil Rights battles of the 50s and 60s shining examples the successful application of federal power.

In fact, brave heroes such as Rosa Parks, and countless nameless folks who simply refused to submit any longer, ultimately won the victory. But the federal government did play a role and helped break down an evil system of segregation in the South.

But as we say in Kentucky, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and again.

In fact, the indignities of segregation pale in comparison with some of the evils perpetrated by the feds.

The reasoning goes something like this: certain state governments proved they will oppress minorities in the middle of the 20th Century; therefore we need a bigger, more powerful central government to force the states not to oppress minorities today.

But it wasn’t the state governments that rounded up more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans and locked them up behind barbed wire during WWII.

It wasn’t the state governments that studied the unchecked progression of syphilis in poor black sharecroppers in Tuskegee, Ala. Federal officials told the subjects of these studies that they were receiving free government health care. They never told them that they had syphilis, nor did doctors ever treat them for the disease. The victims were told their treatments were for “bad blood.”

And it wasn’t the state governments that sprayed low-income residents in St. Louis with toxic, radioactive particles.

Dr. Lisa Martino-Taylor recently uncovered documents revealing that the feds blew a fine powder made of zinc cadmium sulfide into the air over poor neighborhoods. Cadmium was even then a known toxin, although federal officials claimed in the 1990s that the residents were not subjected to dangerous levels.

But Martino-Taylor says she also found indirect evidence that the powder was laced with a fluorescent additive – a suspected radiological compound.

“There are strong lines of evidence that there was a radiological component to the St. Louis study,” she said.

In fact, in 1993 a congressional study confirmed conducting radiological testing occurred in Tennessee and some western states.

The professor of sociology at St. Louis Community College said documents reveal the spraying occurred during two separate periods between 1953 and 1954 and again from 1963 to 1965. The aerosol was sprayed from blowers installed on rooftops and mounted on vehicles as part of a biological weapons testing program.

”The powder was milled to a very, very fine particulate level. This stuff traveled for up to 40 miles. So really all of the city of St. Louis was ultimately inundated by the stuff,” Martino-Taylor told CBS St. Louis.

The government planted news stories to cover up the nature of the spray.

“There was a reason this was kept secret. They knew that the people of St. Louis would not tolerate it,” Martino-Taylor said. “And they told local officials and media that they were going to test clouds under which to hide the city in the event of aerial attack.”

The areas sprayed were predominately black. Army documents called it “a densely populated slum district.” This during the same time-period that the feds were “fighting for minorities” in the South.

Evidence points to higher than normal incidences of cancer in residents who lived in the area at that time, although after all these years, researchers admit it’s difficult to gather conclusive evidence.

Here’s a question for you. Why do we never hear the Tuskegee experiments, or Japanese internment, or feds spraying poor people in St. Louis invoked as a reason to distrust and limit federal power in the same way big government apologists use the Civil Rights era as a rational for growing the federal government and limiting the power of the states?

Fact: governments do bad things. All of them. Local governments. State governments. National governments. The question becomes, how can “we the people” best control them? The answer: limit their power and break them into as many competing jurisdictions as possible.

Americans instinctively distrust economic monopoly. They assume that if one company corners the market on a given product or service, the monopolist will screw the consumer. It will raise prices, limit service and pretty much run roughshod over the customer. After all; no competition exists to hold it in check.

Probably a pretty rational fear.

Then why do Americans so readily embrace a political monopoly centered in Washington D.C.?

Seems to me they’re trading the neighborhood thugs for Bruno.

Michael Maharrey [send him email] is the Communications Director for the Tenth Amendment Center. He proudly resides in the original home of the Principles of ’98 – Kentucky. See his blog archive here and his article archive here. He also maintains the blog, Tenther Gleanings.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

So think minority Malaysians, what the Lynas Radioactive material processing will give ‘Muslims’ and racists in BN supported by minority lapdogs access to. As of now cyanide particles appear to have affected majority Chinese areas

in Raub the cyanide particle issue is already very serious, they may target Kuantan with radioactive part

in Raub the cyanide particle issue is already very serious, the may target Kuantan with radioactive particles next, and who knows, the worst among the racists would access these radioactive particles and poison water sources in local water treatment in all plants where there are minorities elsewhere? If this does not help the voters’ idiotic minorities to vote properly and keep supporting minority lapdogs, the threat of a destroyed and very much sickened next generation seems very likely. Pakatan as well should be watched very carefully for those that do not want to make clear on :

US election: Joe Kennedy III aims to return political dynasty to Washington – The moment Joe Kennedy III steps into the church hall he is thronged by jubilant elderly women and the ghosts of his family. – by Raf Sanchez, Somerset, Massachusetts – 8:18PM BST 14 Oct 2012

Their spirits appear in different forms – one woman produces a lovingly-preserved photograph of Senator Ted Kennedy in his prime, another offers a half-remembered childhood memory about an early JFK election rally – but they travel with the young congressional candidate everywhere he goes.

“The Kennedys still just means so much to people here,” says Arlene Silvia, a 61-year-old nurse, as she watches Robert Kennedy’s grandson shake hands and laugh off-well intentioned suggestions that he begin running for president.

“And he looks just like them. Well, except for the red hair.”

Mr Kennedy, still only 32, is running for Congress in Massachusetts’s Fourth district and is determined to prove he has more to offer than just his famous name and his striking resemblance to some of the best-known figures in American politics.

“It’s important for me that people understand that I’m running – it’s not my grandfather, it’s not my father it’s not either one of my grandfather’s brothers or or anyone else in my family,” he told the Daily Telegraph at the end of his fourth campaign event of the day.

“It’s my name on the ballot and I have got to go out there and let people know who I am and what I stand for.”

For now he is a largely blank slate that others project onto. The Harvard Law School graduate served briefly in the Peace Corps, a US government programme to send volunteers to developing countries, and worked for only two years as a state prosecutor before announcing his congressional bid, creating little record for voters to judge.

On the trail he is unfailingly polite, to the point of being old-fashioned, and greets voters with the question: “Do you have any advice for me?” But he is also possessed with a quiet confidence in his ideas and his ability to sell them.

At one point he purposefully marches up to a house that with a yard sign professing support for Scott Brown, the state’s Republican senator. “That’s bold,” murmurs one of his staff as they watch him trot up the path. Moments later the candidate returns to report another confirmed Kennedy voter.

The family is also out in support of their newest candidate. Ted Kennedy Jr, the barrel-chested son of the late Massachusetts senator, described his cousin as part of a “new generation” that he hopes will pick up the banner of unashamed liberalism his father carried during a 47-year Senate career.

Standing amid a throng of volunteers, the older man said Mr Kennedy was ready for the “vicious scrutiny” that comes with the family name. “He knows how demanding this life can be but he also knows the good that can come out of it. We’re lucky to have people like Joe,” he said.

Ted Kennedy Jr, son the of the late Massachusetts senator

In between Mr Kennedy and the “Camelot” era of the 1960s, lies a generation of the family wracked by tragedy but also tarnished by scandal and who made a relatively minor mark on American public life. The latest Kennedy candidate is teetotal, famously opting for milk while his university lacrosse team mates would down endless pints of beer.

Sean Bielat, the former US Marine running against Mr Kennedy, is visibly frustrated as he describes his election rival as “a guy with a famous name and no qualifications”.

“A little over two centuries ago Massachusetts fought against this whole hereditary monarchy thing and now some people embrace it,” he said.

Mr Bielat is also scathing about Mr Kennedy’s reluctance to take part in major televised debates, agreeing to a second face-off only after coming under intense political pressure. “You should have to prove the reason people are voting for you, you should have to justify your candidacy and get out and defend it.”

Sean Bielat, the former US Marine running as a Republican in the Fourth District

Lew Flagg, a local Republican activist, puts it even more sharply: “The Kennedys are like a cult around here. I know people who are pro-choice and want low taxes and they will still vote Kennedy just because of the name.”

Whether November 6 will be an election or a coronation in the Fourth District is a matter of debate. Mr Bielat ran hard against Barney Frank, the seat’s current Democrat, in 2010 and this year has benefitted from boundary changes making the constituency marginally more conservative.

However, Mr Kennedy holds an enormous financial advantage, allowing him to afford one-minute television ads – described as “Dr Zhivago-length” for a congressional candidate. And while there have been no recent public polls, the campaign makes clear it believes it is well ahead.

Mr Frank, a hero to Democrats’ liberal wing for his championing of gay rights and financial reform, is loath to offer his potential successor public advice, but warns that the Kennedy name alone will not carry him over the finish line.

“It gets him access. But if he wasn’t able to prove himself beyond that then it could easily backfire,” says Mr Frank, who has represented the district since 1981.

Barney Frank addresses Kennedy volunteers in Massachusetts

For now, the young scion of America’s most famous political dynasty says he will continue going to doorsteps and making clear that he is his own man.

Asked what the best bit of advice he has taken from his family’s archive of campaign wisdom, he replies: “If you don’t know what to do, go knock on a door, go knock on 100 doors. When you’ve finished people might have yelled and screamed at you but you will know what’s on their mind and you will know what you need to do.”

Setting a bad example to the 3rd world nations that dream of forming satrapies out of political seats, passed down from father to son, even expanding into bureaucracy, until one day the Americans will find that all that remains are 50 entrenched Governors and family blocs in all the local enforcement and local state departments to cause corruption and ‘inside jobs’ and unaccountability and opacity no end due to family ties . . . par excellence Monarchs who will later turn on the USA if convenient because nepotism minded people who have no love of their fellow citizens cannot be trusted as goodly allies.

who have no love of their fellow citizens cannot be trusted as goodly allies. Theres your ethical excceptionalism, and opposing the same ethical exceptionalism is MEDIOCRITY of Malaysia’s term limitless, nepotistic WORST who do not gice credit where is due and for love of fundamentalism and hate of minorities, choose to destroy woukd be allies. Can the USA trust people like that, especially when the hudud-phenotype infiltration has proven so serious? Give orders to these idiot 3rd worlders to push for :

It appears that Barack Obama is ready to let Secretary of State Clinton take the fall for the failure in security in Benghazi. During the vice-presidential debate on Thursday it became clear that is what the agenda was.

There is no doubt that is part of her responsibility in that role. According to the State Department’s website:

The Secretary of State, and by extension, the Chief of Mission (COM), are responsible for developing and implementing security policies and programs that provide for the protection of all U.S. Government personnel (including accompanying dependents) on official duty abroad. This mission is executed through the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS). Personal and facility protection are the most critical elements of the DS mission abroad as they directly impact upon the Department’s ability to carry out its foreign policy. With terrorist organizations and coalitions operating across international borders, the threat of terrorism against U.S. interests remains great. Therefore, any U.S. mission overseas can be a target even if identified as being in a low-threat environment.

As a result, DS is more dedicated than ever to its mission of providing a secure living and working environment for our Foreign Service colleagues as they implement foreign policy and promote U.S. interests around the world. Nearly 800 DS special agents serve in regional security offices at over 250 posts worldwide. The DS special agents, also called regional security officers (RSOs) when serving abroad, manage security programs and also provide the first line of defense for our personnel, their families, U.S. diplomatic missions, and national security information. RSOs serve as the primary advisor to the COM on all security matters by developing and implementing security programs that shield U.S. missions and residences overseas from physical and technical attack.

It seems that there is a legitimate reason for the Obama administration to throw Clinton under the bus on this one and it seems that everyone is on board with it, including Vice President Joe Biden. Foreign Policy reports,

Vice President Joseph Biden speaks only for himself and President Barack Obama, and neither man was aware that U.S. officials in Libya had asked the State Department for more security before the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, a top White House official told The Cable.

Biden has come under fire for saying at Thursday night’s debate, “We weren’t told they wanted more security. We did not know they wanted more security there.”

The Cable asked Deputy National Security Advisor for Communications Ben Rhodes whether Biden was speaking for the entire Obama administration, including the State Department, which acknowledged receiving multiple requests for more Libya security in the months before the attacks. Rhodes said that Biden speaks only for himself and the president and neither of them knew about the requests at the time.

The State Department security officials who testified before House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa’s panel Wednesday never said they had made their requests to the president, Rhodes pointed out. That would be natural because the State Department is responsible for diplomatic security, not the White House, he said. Rhodes also pointed out that the officials were requesting more security in Tripoli, not Benghazi.

But, if you think that Hillary Clinton is going down without a fight, you would be sorely mistaken. Already former President Bill Clinton has stepped in to give his wife some aid in the matter.

Ed Klein at the Daily Caller writes,

My sources tell me that Clinton is working on a strategy that will allow Hillary to avoid having Benghazi become a stain on her political fortunes should she decide to run for president in 2016.

Bill Clinton has even gone so far as to seek legal advice about Hillary’s liability in terms of cables and memos that might be subpoenaed by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which this week launched an investigation into the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The committee will also examine the apparent Obama administration cover-up that followed the Benghazi attack.

Finally, I’m told that Bill is playing with various doomsday scenarios, up to and including the idea that Hillary should consider resigning over the issue if the Obama team tries to use her as a scapegoat. That seems unlikely to happen. But if relations between Obama’s White House and Hillary’s State Department rupture publicly over the growing Benghazi scandal, that could damage the Democratic ticket and dim Obama’s chances for re-election.

Barack Obama has taken some initiative to protect his Attorney General Eric Holder, though it is possibly because of his own involvement in Operation Fast and Furious. It’s quite possible that Clinton is the one that not only knew of the need for extra security for the Libyan ambassador, but that she made the decision to not provide it.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Confidence based on culture of impunity borne of nepotism. Hillary gives the foul ups among bureaucrats a place to hide knowing full well Hillary’s position is virtually untouchable or if Hillary has to take the fall, nothing will effectively happen to Hillary – at most Hillary loses that Secretary of State job, which will do nothing to her very pleasant life (no ill wishes there, just concerned about the USA setting bad examples for the 3rd world) . . .

Will the rest of the Clintons run for office too? Redneck alert! People who do not understand what nepotism and ethics are had better study what is happening in the worst of ASEAN or the Middle East or Africa. Obama should try to forward a bill for Congressmen and Governors to ratify AGAINST nepotism or families controlling entire blocs of the government generation after generation – this is everyone else’s country too and everyone needs to have their turn at the wheel . . .

Obama is the good guy here for ‘throwing Hillary under the bus’ . . . Hillary will not even feel that throw. Too wealthy, too long in power, too well buffered so don’t worry voters! Get in there instead and have yourself a turn as Secretary of State! Other women (also remember men who obviously are qualified) should have a go at being ‘Hillary’, I mean Secretary of State . . . and I don’t mean those related to the Clintons or any other political term limitless junta!

Meanwhile most parts of USA turn into some 3rd world Junta state? The Clintons and Kennedys should know better and act accordingly, the country belongs to everyone not a handful of families where crony capitalism then corruption occurs . . . democratic principles would expect at least this much forethought and consideration for the other American citizens who are qualified and would like to try their hand at running the USA! Not term limitless relatives and family members ad nauseum! Incidental or ‘accidental’ nepotism is no better than direct nepotism! The relatives will always ‘happen to be there’, or will be ‘conveniently experienced’ if no prohibitions are in place! These are aspects of democracy that China and Russia are well versed in that cause them to write laws as above links prevent!

Nepotism (even indirect nepotism), like term limitlessness is low minded, low class, and an insecure behaviour that must be blocked and removed from government to prevent juntas and term limitless oligarchies from forming that corrupt and destroy laws, and prevent participation from regular citizens. USA has term limits for the President but the term limit law does not cover Governorships, Congressmen seats, Majors and Senators (Upper House is SOOOO Tory and Bluecoat as a concept) and effectively prevents the 99% of Americans from participating in democracy if the particular seat holder does not leave for decades or keeps shifting from seat to seat and post to post WITH relatives to boot everywhere else.

Think American voters and get the right minded people who will place prohibitions via term limits on everything even in bureaucracy, INCLUDING prohibitions on immediate relatives or the immediate next generation (more generations the better) from holding those non-peripheral/non-political posts in turn after they have earned their 401K or had 2 terms in any post (i.e. 2 terms then another 2 terms elsewhere, then another 2 term posting, much less decades on any seat is STILL nepotism and undemocratic, destroys 99% participation . . . these are the less obvious satrapies in the US government that are particularly pronounced in many 3rd world countries).

mini-ARTICLE 2.5

The only reason to vote for Romney, but USA had better play nice with ALL other powers if USA wants to tear up the Middle East and become vulnerable to everyone else. To finish the fight that began in Kuwait in the 1990s and implement the below pictured . . .

Most people would love the perks that come with being a star of a hit movie, but Ashley Greene of “Twilight” fame admits in a new interview with Marie Claire magazine that getting the VIP treatment does have a downside.

“‘Twilight’ has ruined me. When this is all over, flying internationally is going to be very hard for me. It is just not worth it to buy a first-class ticket, because of the cost,” Greene said.

With the end of the “Twilight” saga in sight, Ashley, who portrays Alice Cullen, realizes it’s important to be smart about her finances.

“I’m lucky because my dad taught me to be frugal and save. And that’s important because I want to know that I don’t have to take an acting job for two or three years if I don’t want to and that I’ll still be able to make my house and car payments and buy food for my dogs,” she said.

Ashley tells Marie Claire it was “a hard adjustment” when she found herself on the celebrity fast track, especially when it came to talking with friends.

“It was a hard adjustment going from zero to 100 in a day. But it was also hard to talk to [friends], because you don’t want to be a jerk. After the movie [‘Twilight’] came out, some people said, ‘You changed.’ And I said, ‘I haven’t changed, dude,” she said. “Your opinion of me has changed because I’m working on this film.’ Trust me, my parents would let me know.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Trust me, my parents would let me know? ‘Lost all street cred’ alert anyone? Ashley’s really uncool to talk like this. A better choice in casting next time? Twilight is for feckless and predatory vampires not ‘my parents would let me know’ types. This sort of mindset type should be on ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ maybe but not ‘Twilight’! Is Hollywood trying to push nepotism obtusely?

Lesley Weir showed colleagues marks on her body
She faces being struck off over her actions at Amerind Grove home in Ashton, Bristol
She bent a colleague over a desk to spank him, the hearing heard

A female care home manager faces being struck off after boasting about ‘unspeakable’ sadomasochistic sex acts to colleagues and flashing her breasts at pensioners.

Lesley Weir also showed colleagues marks on her breasts, buttocks and upper thighs and bent a colleague over a desk to spank him, a hearing was told.

A conduct and competence committee found all but one allegation against the Bupa employee was proved. She was cleared of asking a colleague ‘is she dead yet?’, about a cancer patient.

Lesley Weir faces being struck off after flashing pensioners while managing the Amerind Grove home in Ashton, Bristol

Misconduct: Lesley Weir faces being struck off after flashing pensioners while managing the Amerind Grove home (pictured) in Ashton, Bristol

The Nursing and Midwifery Council must now decide whether her actions while manager between February 2008 and August 2010 at Amerind Grove home in Ashton, Bristol, amounted to misconduct and whether her fitness to practise is impaired.

A former colleague told the hearing: ‘On one occasion, she told me about being abused over a car bonnet in a car park.

‘This was what she wanted to happen. She talked of a number of sexual partners and involved BDSM [Bondage, Discipline, Sadism, Masochism], sadomasochistic sex, where Lesley was the slave and her partner was the master.

‘She showed us bruises she got from her sexual activity and was quite open when sat in the reception area.’

Nurse who administered fatal dose of salt to premature baby and posted picture of herself asleep next to his cot on Facebook is found guilty of misconduct

The workmate, who has been granted anonymity by the hearing, said he was scared to report Weir for fear she would lose her temper.

He also told how Weir had spanked him on two separate occasions, including in her office.

Another former colleague said Weir had proudly showed off bruises on her buttocks and breasts, and talked of the ‘unspeakable things’ she liked having done to her.

The hearing also heard how Weir had lifted her skirt to flash a couple of pensioners as they visited a friend admitted at the home.

‘Unspeakable’ sex acts: Weir told a former colleague about the number of sexual partners she had and bondage and sadomasochistic sex (file photo)

Terry Lewis, 76, said he had complained underwear belonging to their friend, a 93-year-old dementia sufferer, had gone missing, to which Weir retorted that he should be ‘on knicker inspection’.

She then told the man he could inspect her underwear first ‘because I’m not wearing any’ before lifting her skirt.

The nurse was sacked from the home after bosses discovered that she had pocketed £900 of rent paid by a nurse who lived in a flat above the home.

Weir stuffed the envelopes of cash into her diary instead of passing them to the home’s accountant and handed the money back when she was discovered in August 2010 claiming she always intended to pay it back.

Weir, who is not attending the central London hearing, wrote to the NMC admitting the majority of charges, but denied flashing her buttocks or asking if the patient was ‘dead yet’.

If the panel find that her fitness to practise is impaired, she could be struck off the nursing register.

Mark Elliott, regional director, Bupa care homes said: ‘Even though no residents were involved, Lesley Weir’s actions were deplorable for someone in a position of such responsibility.

‘We dismissed her in 2010 and referred her to the NMC.’ The hearing continues.

[[[ *** RESPONSE ** ]]]

No need to make Weir jobless. To practice democracy, ask for a vote, after which Weir must not act in this manner again (i.e. make inappropriate quips) and if doing so then will be fired. Scared to report Weir might be demogoguery though. Stuffed the envelopes of cash into her diary instead of passing them to the home’s accountant and handed the money back, means Weir can continue working there on condition that money must not be handled by Weir there anymore and appropriate apologies made to the offended parties. People act out for many reasons, but nursing has nursing’s own brand of guilt ridden people who take up the profession and this should be taken into consideration.

Finding a dress you feel great in and which shows off your best assets is a Godsend, but when you reach a certain age, such a display of your charms seems to attract a backlash of criticism.

Witness the outcry over the sexy gown Carol Vorderman wore to last week’s National Television Awards. While the 51-year-old Loose Women presenter’s Suzanne Neville corseted dress showed off a figure the envy of many women half her age, there was still much muttering that, really, Vorderman should do the maths and cover up. Still, she joins a growing number of older ladies happy to take the plunge on a night out.

Our own columnist Pamela Ballantine often shows off her fabulous embonpoint in glitzy gowns while the gorgeous Tracey Hall wore a daring dress to the recent Belfast Telegraph Woman of the Year awards. We talk to them and others about putting on a bold front.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Flaunting is an attitude not a state of dress or undress. Think nudists and beach goers in bikinis then consider ‘too much’. The attitude and way one moves is actual flaunting. That is how even burkah clad women who’s eyes can’t even be seen can be raped when totally covered. Nudism in this consideration is an exercise of discipline. What is worn or not worn never has anything to do with flaunting. This article is a sign of a very materialist type of society, very unspiritual and visual oriented!

Just the head of the model is shown but the innuendo is the key to sexual content here. Flaunting is the same, not about what one can see, but how one presents anything. (i.e. on background settings : Nudism could be considered pure if thinking along Adam-Eve lines in a forested setting – so leave those ‘naturist ramblers’ alone, but under the neon of the RLD, nudity becomes sexual instead if not burlesque at least.) . . . This posting by the way, is no endorsement of fast food costing more than USD$1 a meal (or in the local currency of the place a fast food outlet appears in – exchange rate considerations are a rip off, especially in the 3rd world (where spiritually polluting/polluted teens flex their ‘muscles’ for all the wrong reasons to the demise of democracy and those on the wrong side of reality . . . much like Inequality/Dhimmutude accepting Ambiga who also got to enjoy ‘buns’ . . . )

Arresting tattoos: A Lothian and Borders police officer with extensive tattoos. He may fall foul of the new guidelines if it spreads to other forces

Police recruits to Britain’s largest force were banned yesterday from having visible tattoos in a sweeping reform of its public image.

Scotland Yard Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said body art that can be seen by the public ‘damages the professional image’ of the service.

And he ordered a ‘tattoo amnesty’ in which anyone who already has marks on their hands, neck or face must declare them within weeks or be sacked.The ban comes amid increasing concern among senior ranks nationwide over complaints from crime victims that some young officers appear ‘thuggish’.

They are particularly worried about the trend for tattoo ‘sleeves’ in which wrap-around tattoos are inked along the arm.

But rank-and-file representatives claim associating tattoos with criminals is old-fashioned and police should reflect the public they serve.

Don’t discriminate against MEN (or in this case Hindoos or people who believe in the ‘Sampson Theory’). Perhaps a ‘meet halfway’ solution. In low rent districts cops can grow facial hair to match toughness, in toff districts only officers and above are allowed to grow facial hair. What’s the Orwellian state trying to emasculate this time? Even the cops who actually inadvertently or knowingly support the dictators? So cops can’t grow a beard but politicians can? Smackdown time alongside the 99% rather than against you ‘pigs’ . . .

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Rank and file opinions are applicable to a point. There will be suitable ‘tough’ districts for tattooed constables but in the ‘toffier’ ones, tattoos should be forbidden. Perhaps UNIFORM ‘police’ tattoos could be allowed, or even the uniforms in ‘rough’ districts could feature sleeveless or allow jeans or ‘ripped’ trousers specifically to convey a sense of ‘tough”. Those police helmets too are actually laughable in such districts and could be replaced with simple (backwards turned? caps). Cops decked out in ‘beefeater/colonial’ only grate on the chav sensitivities of ‘low life’ in such districts and make cops look and feel stupid, lowers respect from the ‘ghetto dwellers’.

Might as well outfit the cops in lace doilies and furbelows carrying the Royal banner . . . the low lifes would just want to egg them instead (which in fact work retrogressively to distract by entertaining the ‘lowlife’ who might be doing worse crime). Heck even posting about royalty then later subcultural memes in a certain 3rd world country had an entire state in a certain 3rd world area up in arms against a certain individual who had dressed down for decades to fit in with the local trash whom I won’t mention . . . incongruity is a factor that makes the police not fit in here. Spiffy uniforms in a gaggle of the obnoxiously loudly branded toting rag wearing dregs of society, might be better off as plainclothes posing as the regular ‘low life’ instead who will doubtless be reognized in time but can still be effective even if out of uniform. Uniforms forster ‘us vs. them’ culture that destroys low wealth to police camaraderie.

Probably there will be many less disciplined cops ‘wanting’ to be posted to tough districts out of sheer desire for lack of discipline, but the toughest districts in fact should have the most disciplined officers sent there instead! If rank-and-file representatives claim associating tattoos with criminals is old-fashioned and police should reflect the public they serve, then the above suggestion should be applied. Tattoos allowed but only in tough districts! Helmets and full uniform, with no tattoos in ‘tough’ districts!

Body art that can be seen by the public (also facial hair, tattoos, ‘kinked’ uniforms and piercings – approachable conversational pieces) helps the professional image’ of the police, but only in tough districts.

BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) — The State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) on Monday called on local authorities to “resolutely ban” any acts of profiteering related to religious activity.

The administration also told government departments not to allow or support any contract operation, equity investment or joint investment conducted by enterprises or individuals at religious sites.

The SARA said in a statement issued jointly with nine other authorities on Monday that some local governments, enterprises and individuals have made religion a profitable instrument by building new religious sites for profit, hiring fake monks or clergy to conduct illegal religious activities and collect religious endowments, as well as tricking or forcing visitors to surrender their money.

Moreover, some companies have invested in popular religious sites and categorized them as listed assets, the statement said.

Such practices have disturbed the order of religious activity, impaired the interests and image of the religious circle, hurt the feelings of believers and violated the rights of other visitors, the statement said.

The authorities vowed serious punishment for government officials who are found to be involved in such practices.

Religious affairs should be administered exclusively by their respective circles under the supervision of relevant government departments, the statement said.

The authorities also asked for a thorough check of the country’s registered religious venues to eliminate violations.

No organization or site other than legally registered ones are allowed to organize or hold religious activities or to accept religious endowments, the statement said.

Furthermore, the statement said all clergy should be qualified by relevant religious organizations and register at administrative organs for religious affairs at the county level or above.

The statement also called for tourism enterprises and tourist guides to avoid recommending for-profit worship sites.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Bureaucrats are no supposed to be doing business either in GLC or Private, much less religious profiteering. This way separation of powers is assured and that the state will not become a Theocracy as the Dalai Lama intends for Tibet. Real religion is about discipline and fasting and seriousness of life, the pain of life, the contemplation of death, the problems of the world and failings of society or law – NOT profit. The state meanwhile though should ensure that the minimum housing and food are at least assured for ALL people, so that the criminal minded do not turn to using religion as a tool to ‘work the system’ by in collusion with bureaucrats (who already have an ‘Iron Rice Bowl’) especiallym or the lazy congregate as ‘minks’ simply out of having no choice in life because the unsused state land is sequestered and unrealeased/prohibited by state or because all jobs are held by the relatives of cronies and term limitless politicians who are insanely wealthy while the 99% don’t even have homes and have no right to access mineral, plantation or oil wealth for example which are owned by a handful of nepotistic and term limitless and generational political families – feudal satrapy style par excellence Oligarchy-form monarchs.

As for the Tibetan ‘way of discussion’ which monks display, those featured on various documentaries are probably having a very low level discussion? When one is in truly deep issues (which looks impossible under the conditions in the pictures), one has no time to pose, twirl and slap or what not, much less with broad smiles.

If religion is propaganda in any way, this profane, almost loutish attitude, in what are supposed religious discussions appear to be exceptionally lighthearted. And besides the most meaningful discussions occur WITHIN contemplation ALONE, not without with distracting persons whom which greater insight cannot be obtained. Monks are silent excepting when giving sermons, because they obtain the truth from contemplation with the ether/Akhasic (not talking to people around them) then transmit to the world. This is not religion, this is posturing and posing to catch the attention of the young. Young people CANNOT be religious workers or in the order unless they make a conscious choice when adult and only after experiencing enough of the world’s stupidity and mental illness first hand. State religion is enforced, and this Bon Sect looks ‘popularised’ and a crony industry, a ‘Theocrat-Building Contractor-CapitalisCronyBureaucrat Complex’ if anything.

‘Back’ button habit. Also when ‘back’ is used, the more obtrusive sites tend to flash ads (like this one) or require the reader to press ‘back’ a few times. One may consider buying, but might be looking for a list of places where the ‘netbook stick’ can be bought directly rather than online. The ‘re-enter Email Address’ feels quite ‘demanding’ and obtrusive, but perhaps this is to ensure bots do not proliferate and sabotage Net Zero. As for the ‘SUBMIT’ button, note that there is an NLP propaganda war/wave on internet and MSM . . . HEREON being prevented from replying because of ‘lack of space’, we will continue below . . . the lack of response space was offensive and caused me to not post this comment.

However I find a free NetZero service very appealing, so Netzero will still get to hear from me. Finally consumers prefer UNLIMITED space to respond when responses are asked for and should not be limited to any number of words. Which effectively signals a cut off of the user in mid response (or mid sentence).

This form though is a failure and I would like Netzero instead to read the below link :

* I note that there is an NLP propaganda wave * . . . that the internet has been manipulatively inculating a sense of Orwellian psychological manipulation towards obeisance. To not be accused of indulging this offensive behaviour, the use of words must be chosen carefully. To use the word SUBMIT, indicates an intent to dominate subconsciously if not consciosuly via NLP. Instead use neutral words like RESPOND.

The above feedback IMHO is highly value added and I would like for NetZero to take ito account and change accordingly to even better NetZeros offer of 0.00 for services. I would advise an interim service as well called Minimum. the gradation from 200 to 500 seems presumptuous and indicates server space.

I would however guess that there is no coverage in ASIA and would like to ask how much a partner might have to contribute to create a server hub in ASEAN. Also, I found the lack of email address to type a response to rather irritating. As with various websites that somehow refuse to list their official email address, I decided to whois NetZero.net and came up with the below address that this email will be sent to. I hope this posting was helpful.

Paul John was named the first Caucasian Shaman today by Elder Shaman Iterakat IVX in a ceremony held in The Holy Tribal Circle. Some 80,000 people came to the open-air ceremony as the 17th century Mohawk-Algonquin woman and six others were canonized.

“It’s so nice to see the Sky-Father showing all the flavors of the world,” Cene Galdwell, a Native American member of the Menominee reservation in Elderpeak, Wis., who attended with his wife, told the Associated Press. “The Anglo-Saxons are enthralled.” The canonization ceremony happened at the same time the world’s Elder Shamans descended on the Tribal Council to discuss ways to revive faith in parts of the world where it is falling by the wayside.

Among some of the select faithful who were chosen to receive communion from the Chief Shaman was Eakf Binkjfeather. The Washington boy was near death for months with a flesh eating bacteria, but made a miraculous recovery that the Tribal Council credited to Tekakwitha. The Tribal Council said it believes that the prayers Eakf Binkjfeather’s family directed to Tekakwitha were responsible for bringing the boy back from the brink of death.

Eakf Binkjfeather cut his lip during the last minute of a Boys & Girls Club Atl-atl game in 2006.

“I was running down court with the ball, I stopped in front of the hoop to shoot when I was pushed from behind,” Eakf wrote on his website. “I flew forward and hit my mouth on the base of the portable basketball hoop.”

Two days later, he wrote, he was in the hospital with a strep bacteria infection that had spread across his face, head and chest.

“It’s a bacteria that can cause severe infections in unusual circumstances but most of us don’t ever have any problems with it,” said Dr. Christopher Ohl, a doctor at Skeep Forest Shaman Medical. “But if all of the circumstances come together and the setting is just right, it can get in through the skin and cause a severe infection.”

Ohl said the chance of survival for people with the bacteria is roughly 50-50. At the urging of the family’s priest, the Binkjfeathers began praying to Tekakwitha, who converted to native Native Ameri-Indian Shamanism when she was 18 and became a fervent follower. Her face was scarred by smallpox as a child, but it is claimed that the scars disappeared after she died in 1680 at the age of 24.

ARTICLE 11

Großpriester (Germanic Elder) of the Neo-Pagan Order of Baldr, to name first Charlemagnean saint of Baldr. – October 21st, 2012 – 02:07 AM ET

Sunday is a big day for Germanians. Großpriester Alois I, will name 17th century French general Napoleaon Nonaparte the first Charlemagnean saint of Baldr.

Another newly named saint is Annamarie Poce, a German-born woman who emigrated to the Catalans as a child, became a nun and went on to devote 30 years of her life helping lepers in England.

Their canonization, along with those of seven other saints, will be celebrated at a special Mass in Berlin’s CapSquare Sunday morning.

Frigg lived to regret skipping the mistletoe. Her son now dwelt in the shadowy realm ruled by Loki’s daughter, Hel. And when the corpselike queen agreed that Baldr would revive if the entire world wept for him, a single holdout prevented the light god’s return. Moral of the story: mistletoe is for mischief, so skip the smooching. Mistletoe is deadly, not romantic. In fact, the plant is parasitic and poisonous, and its name may derive from the German for “dung branch.” This year, find proper uses for mistletoe – like binding your enemies, playing tug-of-war across a volcano, or weaving Viking-shaped lawn ornaments. Don’t kiss under/near it.

For certain the Christians have a repository of wisdom but much of that that wisdom is inaccurate, skewed, corrupted and even harmful. The true ‘Capital’ of Christianity is at Aramea NOT Rome, and Aramea lies in the north-west of modern Iran or the north-west of Persia (which was not Muslim and Zoroastrian instead . . . ). Rome was incidentally a stronghold of planetary-archon worship and NOT Monotheist micro-state, but instead a center of a massiveEmpire, saddening to see Rome being captive to Christians while neglecting the heart of Christianity at Aramea! Aramean is the true language of Christianity and not Italian, much like Arabic for Islam, and Hebrew for Judaism. What say Pope Benedict to the above facts? Could the ethnic Italian Pope have been living a lie all his life?

(Getty Images)Got an extra ten bucks? If so, you, too, could be the owner of a sparkling new home in Reston, Manitoba, a rural prairie town in Southern Manitoba bordering Saskatchewan on the west and North Dakota on the south.

In an effort to jump on the oil boom in that part of the country, officials are once again selling undeveloped land for a mere $10, an initiative they first started in 2010. Back then they had 14 lots for sale, 11 of which have houses built on them today, economic development officer Tanis Chalmers told ABC News .

That plan was so successful that in September the Rural Municipality of Pipestone, of which Reston is the biggest town (population: 550), decided to put up an additional 10 lots for sale, along with the three left from 2010. Nine remain, “But I’ve had offers on them already from both Canada and the U.S,” said Chalmers, adding that the initiative has been so effective that the local school finally “has a standalone kindergarten class.”

Agriculture and oil are the main industries in the town, which was founded as a railway point for the Canadian Pacific Railway, but Chalmers says she hopes to attract small business, too. “We need to have supporting services to support the people living here and coming,” she said. “We’d like to see a new hotel here, a new restaurant, a bar.”

The plan is pretty straightforward: To purchase a property, wannabe homeowners have to sign an agreement and put down a $1,000 deposit. Once a lot is purchased, owners have 90 days to begin construction, and 12 months to complete it. As soon as the town receives your occupancy permit, they will refund $990 of the original down payment.

“You don’t have to live here full time, but you do need to put up a permanent structure,” said Chalmers.

As further incentive, the town is offering a $6,000 grant to people who’ve built a new house or purchased an existing home in the rural municipality. The grant, mind you, can be used for anything from home upgrades to a new car. Chalmers says taxes hover around $1,500 to $2,500 per year.

Todd Vanloo, who recently moved to Reston, told CTV that he was lured by the offer.

“We couldn’t pass up this opportunity of a house of this nature for this kind of money, and a lot for $10,” he said.

Commentator Commentaries :

@The Bunker Buster said :

. . . taxes hover around $1,500 to $2,500 per year…..They get you there..

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Even the hideous bank fees cost more in the USA than this $10 land. Who needs to tolerate foreclosures? As for taxes, actually, all 66.6% of the 99% people need to do is to vote for MPs who will remove those for properties worth 50K and below or an MP who will allow Allodial Titles which means NO TAXES after paying the single tax (which saves alot of administration and crony jobs for unecessary work as well). End of issue. Finally any court of law can easily understand that a property should not be taxable more than the value at which the property was last sold at. In the 1700s a few 10s of acres of land could be bought with a few silver dollars.

How could taxes be more than what the entire land was bought at originally? A country could in fact reward people for not moving around and creating organic communities as well as keep inflation down and development spread out. if people keep selling and packing up, we end up with over-priced over dense regions that are unliveable. More profiteering paradigms by which puppet masters no less. So vote on a MP for Allodial title criteria or taxes that do not exceed earnings or basic value. $2500 taxes when a property is worth $10? Ridiculous and unconstitutional! Perhaps 0.10 or 10 cents would be more fair but think, within 100 years the woner would have paid 100% in value AGAIN. Whats the point? Might as well go for allodial Titles and be done with the wasted paperwork, crony bureaucrat job and NEVER PAY PROPERTY TAX AGAIN. That’s a 30 year all paid at once, 1-off tax I believe, from what I remember.

So we will instead have people saving up over the years (no foreclosures for the non-profitable, the idea of a nation is not to run people off their land and homes for foreclosures), to pay single lump sums to end the paperwork FOREVER via Allodial Titles. Whats with all the lawyers? Never apply what you learn or just colluding to oppress and bleed the people and keep the crony bureaucrat system in place as well as waste peoples’ time running up and down the tax office paying taxes year after year at unfair levels? Vote for an MP that will forward and ratify Allodial Titles under penalty of vacating the political seat via Statuary Declaration! Think 99% ters and votre under such criterion!

With her bleached eyebrows and ultra long black fingernails, Kelly Osbourne looks like she belongs in another world in a new set of striking photographs.

The 27-year-old star shows off her svelte figure in the Gothic-style seaside shoot for the autumn issue of Fault magazine, where she sports a floor-length black dress with lace detail.

Another photograph shows the star’s pale purple hair coiffed into an old fashioned front roll as she poses with black gloves and a high necked black top.

Gothic glamour: Kelly Osbourne shows off bleached eyebrows and black extended fingernails as she poses in black lace for a new magazine shoot for Fault magazine

Kelly tells the magazine in an accompanying interview that she was also initially thrown by her dramatic transformation, and was bemused at making headlines for her newly pale brows.

‘You know I’ve never done something so small that made world news, it actually blows my mind that that happened,’ she tells Fault. ‘I was having a laugh about it every time I looked in the mirror. I thought to myself, “I really do look like an Alien.”‘

The Fashion Police presenter admits to the publication that her goal is to be an individual when it comes to style.

‘I don’t want to look like anyone else,’ she says. ‘I want to be me rather than someone I’m supposed to be.’

A striking sight: Kelly told the magazine she felt her bleached eyebrows made her look like ‘an alien’

She advises readers to: ‘Try everything once – that’s what life is all about. That and making mistakes. You can always change things, i.e: my eyebrows!’

Growing up in a rock and roll environment with father Ozzy Osbourne and extroverted mother Sharon influenced Kelly’s style too.

‘This may sound like a cliché but rock and roll is all I know… knew,’ she says. ‘It’s not like my dad was a lawyer or had a typical 9-5 career. So there was no traditional normality.

‘My mom having such a love of fashion played a huge part, she loves theatre and older movies, so [Marilyn] Monroe and [Audrey] Hepburn were a big influence. Also, a lot of my earlier hair styles where directly taken from a book my mom had on Vidal Sassoon. I think I tried every cut in that book…

Get the full shoot and interview, exclusively in FAULT Issue #12 which will officially be released on October 15th and is available for pre-order now from fault-magazine.com/issues.

Curl up: Kelly’s purple hair is dramatically preened into a front curl as she poses in a dramatic high neck black top and gloves in the beach shoot

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‘I was having a laugh about it every time I looked in the mirror. I thought to myself, “I really do look like an Alien.”‘

Alien?!? Thats it, Kelly’s off my ‘real goth’ list even if Kelly looks the makeup or clothing part (nice props!).

A real Goth does not feel alien. Nor is goth mainly about fingernails and accessories and dresses. Goth is about death and the glory of darkness, also the cool tones and cadences of lamenti for each relevant culture. Hanging around graveyards (preferably of the last generation of goths – perky spirits get them down, no daylight living commoners please . . . ). A real goth feels ‘dark’ or undead at most, preferably vampiric. Shadowy if possible, though not hellish or infernal. Or weepy and depressed for the beta-goths. The use of the word ‘Alien’ sets Kelly as one of the non-goths if anything. As for laughter, at least Alpha Goths DO NOT, at least for normal stuff.

The world is rubbish and Goths ‘keep things real’ by ‘sincere darkness’ as a barometer. The day goth subculture dies out as a mainstream meme, is when all world problems are solved. That includes the issue of high density graveyards, lack of 24 hour venues, or worse, high rise style high density columbariums and the lack of quality mausoleums, the small scale and unmazelike quality of tombs, and the lack of necropoli of any respectable size . . .

The movie ‘Alien’ incidentally is more ‘dark industrial’ which is more cyberpunk with a very heavy dose of orwell and high tech, not really gothic, as sci-fi is not ‘Dark Ages’ where everything was low tech but magic was more common though not over-proliferated . . . thanks for reminding anyway Kelly. That last Space Field pic will be posted tomorrow I think, I really hope someone takes up the threadbare programming offer! Probably some programmer from the 3rd world simply because the USA’s programmers are too expensive to hire due to cost of living there!

ARTICLE 14

Egypt top court to rule on constitution – 10-26-2012 13:01 BJT

The legal row over the writing of Egypt’s new constitution is being referred to the country’s supreme court. The court will begin investigating the case within 45 days.

A delay that many see as a blow to the country’s liberal politicians. The parliament’s Islamist majority now has more time to finalize the draft constitution.

The fate of Egypt’s political charter, the constitution, remained uncertain amid a court ruling to refer the case to the highest court in Egypt.

The court declined to rule on the legality of the constituent assembly drafting Egypt’s Constitution.

The supreme court will begin investigating the case within 45 days allowing the Islamists time to finalize the constitution draft.

Khaled Aly, former presidential candidate, says, “The court will refer to the highest constitutional court to review if the president is authorized to issue a legislation. That legislation was approved by the people’s assembly which was dissolved.

And the law was passed a month after the dissolution. Hence we have a constitutional problem. Is it within the authority of the president to issue this legislation to have the assembly or not?”

Maged Attia, lawyer, says, “I never expected that the court would refer the lawsuit to the constitutional court. They should have either given a verdict of dissolution of the assembly or leave it. With this decision they are holding the stick from the middle.”

The delay in the ruling is a possible blow to liberals.They are against the current assembly, since according to them, it is not representative of the Egyptian society.

Their main concern is the creation of an Islamist instead of a civilian state.Islamists on the other hand argue that this was to be expected given their numerical superiority in Parliament and the election of an Islamist president.

Hamdy El Fakharany, former member of parliament, says, “We are against the Brotherhoods’ constitution. We will not accept that the labors and farmers don’t have rights in the constitution; We will not accept them stealing away the revolution and killing our freedom.”

The assembly has been trying to complete a final draft before the court rules on its dissolution.

The charter must be put to a public vote within one month of the assembly’s approving of the final draft.According to legal experts, once the people vote for the new charter, no court can rule against the decision.

Faced with an uncertain political charter and turbulence that preceded the removal of Mubarak from office, the battle for supremacy between the Liberals and the Islamists promises to be the new front for a protracted wrangle that may as well through the quest for a new constitution into serious doubt.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

How about some ‘terrorists’ scuttle this Islamist agenda in what should be one of the greatest civilisations and most striking and well loved Polytheistic faiths ever in the history of mankind. USA asleep on the job? Where are those contractors USA is known for? Freemasons having nice meals and flying around talking rubbish at the UN while the Islamists take over their territories? Israel, the Priesthood of Egypt, had better prime Mossad or call the CIA or something. Get that Pharoanate up and running, put your foot down REAL Masons! Remember though that Egypt will be able to claim authority over the entirity of the West’s Freemasonry and prepare to be secondary to a pure blood (less than blonde haired, non-blue eyed Pharoah . . . ). Make the right choice Westerners and Egyptians. In Islam Egypt can only be periphery, but in Freemansonry under a Pharoanate, the West comes under Egyptian control!

China’s Bo stripped of last title; prosecution next – Once considered a top contender for the Politburo, Bo Xilai was stripped of his legislative membership – October 26, 2012 (CNN)

Beijing (CNN) — Chinese authorities have stripped disgraced former leader Bo Xilai of his legislative membership, his last official title, paving the way for criminal prosecution of a once rising political star whose spectacular fall has thrown the ruling Communist Party into its biggest crisis in decades.

The People’s Congress of Chongqing, a southwestern metropolis governed by Bo until early this year, has removed his national delegate status, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported Friday.

The announcement comes ahead of the 18th Party Congress in Beijing next month that will set out who will occupy the top positions in the party hierarchy, part of a once-in-decade leadership transition.

Bo was expelled from the Communist Party and the government last month, after being stripped of leadership positions in April.

He once was considered a top contender for the Politburo Standing Committee, the team of nine politicians who effectively rule China, but the news report on his expulsion last month, based on a party investigation, painted a portrait of corruption, abuse of power and improper sexual relationships.

Investigators determined that his behavior tarnished the party’s reputation, Xinhua reported, and discovered “clues to his suspected involvement in other crimes.” The party investigators have sent their conclusions to judicial authorities.

The report said Bo made “severe mistakes” related to the killing of a British businessman — a crime for which his wife was imprisoned — and a diplomatic incident involving his former police chief in Chongqing, Xinhua said.

It also cited influence peddling, bribery and womanizing as details found in the course of the party’s investigation.

Bo is a charismatic, albeit controversial, politician who launched a “smashing black, singing red” campaign in the southwestern city of Chongqing that promoted Communist ideology and zealously cracked down on organized crime.

His economic programs, which included millions spent on social welfare, made him a popular leader in Chongqing. But analysts say his populist policies and high-profile personal style were seen as a challenge to the more economically liberal and reform-oriented faction that dominates the current party leadership.

Bo’s fortunes changed when the dramatic scandal involving him and his inner circle began to seep into the public realm. His wife, Gu Kailai, and family aide Zhang Xiaojun were arrested in early April, suspected of poisoning British businessman Neil Heywood.

Heywood died in November in Chongqing, where Bo was the Communist Party chief. His death was originally blamed on excessive alcohol consumption.

Bo was soon stripped of his top posts for “serious breach of discipline.” In August, his wife received a suspended death sentence after a seven-hour trial. Days later, four senior Chongqing police officers were also sentenced to jail for covering up the murder.

Wang Lijun, the former police chief of Chongqing, set off the Bo story on February 6, when he fled to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu and told American diplomats that Gu was a suspected accomplice in a murder case.

After his request for asylum was turned down, Wang left the consulate and was taken away by Chinese officials. But his accusations rocked the world’s most populous nation.

Wang was sentenced to 15 years in prison last month for defection, coverup, bribe taking and abuse of power.

The party expelled Bo after an investigation of the killing and Wang’s visit to the consulate, a trip made “without permission,” Xinhua said.

The investigators said Bo “bore major responsibility” in the Wang incident and the killing, Xinhua reported.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

2 terms in power, then no more repostings to parallel departments. All who have stayed on too long need to be replaced as well. This should not apply to PM or Presidents’ posts, but every single post in the bureaucracy ESPECIALLY the very top posts. So the next time a person is promoted to the top post, they should know that their time is up and retirement will soon follow. Probably those lobbying for top posts should be doing so as an end of career move, or department shakedown kind of move if lobbying for a post. People who know their power is temporary will never dare to murder in this manner. Term limitlessness and nepotism breeds such murderers and abusers or invites murder and abuse. See the link below for an example.

ARTICLE 16

Philippine politicians get bulletproof cars – 10-25-2012 15:23 BJT

There’s a full six months to go before the Philippines holds a midterm election but already politicians are gearing up for the debate. And amid political instability and unrest in some parts of the country, part of their preparation is bulletproofing their cars. Barnaby Lo explains how next year’s vote is good for the armored car business.

You’ll probably never be able guess what the model or make of this vehicle is or why anyone would have his car stripped down like this. But there are over a dozen SUV’s lined up here all waiting to be retrofitted.

“Our clients come to us for security and peace of mind.”

For over ten years now, Ryan and his men have been in the business of armoring vehicles. From dismantling the different parts of the vehicle to cutting the steel and installing bulletproof materials to upgrading the car’s suspension and then carefully trimming upholstery to make everything fit back together, Ryan says bulletproofing a car is an art.

Ryan Saluta, Sales Manager, Exo Armoring Co. said, “Most of our employees are actually welders and not mechanics because we cut a lot of steel so we have to be very precise.”

Barnaby Lo, Manila said, “Most of their clients here are wealthy businessmen who need protection from criminals. But during an election year, there’s a completely different set of clients who need a different kind of protection, that come here to have their vehicles armored.”

With just over 6 months left before midterm election, there’s increasing demand from politicians especially from the country’s restive regions in the North and South, where violence has become a staple of every election.

Bobby Tuazon, People Empowerment in Governance said, “They come face to face against each other. The private armed groups of competing politicians confront each other. And therefore the climate of violence is always there.”

In 2009, 58 people were killed in broad daylight while on their way to file for a local politician’s candidacy for governor of the Southern province of Maguindanao. The perpetrators were allegedly from a rival political clan. It was the country’s worst incident of election-related violence.

Three years have passed, but no one has been brought to justice. No surprise then, that for some candidates vying for local posts in next year’s election, it’s worth spending as much as $80,000 to have one vehicle armored, if only to ensure their survival.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Intending to be term limitless eh? If term limits are applied, killing a politician would not be worth the trouble, but looks like either Pinoy MPs are intending to be dictators and nepotists or Pinoy citizens are getting more lawless if not unable to impose term limits on MPs to make MPs think they need bullet proof vehicles . . . IEDs and Grenades can get through any overpriced bulletproof car armour. Which of the 99% of Pinoys said the politicians were allowed to get such expensive vehicles? How about this. If politicians only stay for 2 terms, the Pinoy people promise that no killings will be done, so no bulletproof vehicles off the people’s tax monies will be needed for such waste and implied false sense of privilege based around people killing such MPs. 3rd world mindedness no end . . .

Community of 50 men, 50 women and 70 children from Guarani-kaiowa tribe are camped inside a ranch in Brazil’s southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul
Indians claim land has been the graveyard of their ancestors for centuries
Spokesman said they would rather die on the land than be made to leave

A entire tribe of 170 Indians have vowed to commit mass suicide after a court in Brazil ruled they must leave what they believe is sacred land, it was reported today.

The community of 50 men, 50 women and 70 children from the Guarani-kaiowa tribe are camped inside a ranch in Brazil’s southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

The Indians claim the land has been the graveyard of their ancestors for centuries, according to Brazil’s Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI).

Protest: An ethnic Guarani-Kaiowa Brazilian Indian from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul fixes a cross into the lawn at the Esplanade of Ministries in Brasilia yesterday. His entire tribe of 170 Indians have vowed to commit mass suicide after a court ruled they must leave what they believe is sacred land

A Guarani Indian family ride a horse-drawn cart in southern Brazil in 2004. The Indians claim the disputed land has been the graveyard of their ancestors for centuries

But this week, Judge Henrique Bonachela upheld a petition made by the ranch’s owner to have the tribe evicted from the land.

He decreed a fine of £150 for every day the tribe remains on the land, on the banks of Brazil’s Joguico River.

A spokesman for the tribe today said they do not intend to fight the judge’s decision but would rather die on the land than be made to leave.

And in a letter the tribe called on the Brazilian government to respect their wishes to be buried there along with their ancestors.

It read: ‘Because of this historic fact, we would prefer to die and be buried together with our ancestors right here where we are now.

‘We ask, one time for all, for the government to decree our extinction as a tribe, and to send tractors to dig a big hole and there to throw our dead bodies.

‘We have all decided that we will not leave this place, neither alive nor dead.’

Battle: A spokesman for the tribe said they do not intend to fight the judge’s decision but would rather die on the land than be made to leave

Remote: The tribe is camped inside a ranch in Brazil’s southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul

A spokesman for CIMI described the development as of ‘exceptional seriousness’.

In a letter to Brazil’s Justice Minsitry, he wrote: ‘This tribe has had its culture and lands attacked for centuries. They could now go down in history as being the tribe which wiped themselves out by committing collective suicide.

‘We must take the necessary measures to avert the worst.’

Indian tribes in southern Brazil have for years been fighting for the country to recognise their traditional lands, many of which now belong to farmers and rich landowners.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

You silly natives. Whats the purpose of killing yourselves? Take this to the UN instead. and file for sovereign statehood microstate style. The Vatican has a mere 2 square km and population of 800 and is already considered sovereign with a UN seat, but the Guarani-kaiowa have 4.6 million which is 5000 times more the right to sovereignty by population size, with 500 square kilometres which is 250 times in land size more right to sovereignty for a total of 1.2 million times more right than Vatican State to be a sovereign state, with a seat at the UN. Instead of suicide which is exactly what the land grabbers want, try the legal and formal method with lobbying as many supporting states as possible out of 192 viable states of the day (66.6% so that a quorum for legal sovereign statehood can occur) to support the tribe’s effort for statehood at the UN.

ARTICLE 18

Tibetan man dies after setting himself on fire at monastery in protest against Chinese rule

Seventh Tibetan dies from self-immolation this month
Nearly 60 Tibetans have set themselves alight in protest against Chinese rule since March 2011

A Tibetan man died after setting himself alight in the latest self-immolation protest against Chinese rule over the Himalayan region yesterday.

The fatal protest occurred at a prominent Tibetan monastery in Gansu province, northwestern China a London-based rights group said.

This is the seventh self-immolation death as a result of pro-Tibet protests against China this month, Free Tibet said.
The man’s body on fire near a prayer hall at the remote Labrang Monastery in China’s northwestern Gansu province

Deadly protest: The man’s body on fire near a prayer hall at the remote Labrang Monastery in China’s northwestern Gansu province

The protester, who has been identified as 50-year-old man named Dhondup, set fire to himself near the prayer hall at the remote Labrang Monastery on Monday morning.

The monastery is one of the most important outside of Tibet and was the site of numerous protests following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008.

Free Tibet said Monday’s self-immolation was the first to take place at Labrang Monastery, and that there have been heavy restrictions in place in the area in recent months.

Citing a witness, it said the monastery manager and other monks prevented police from taking Dhondup’s body.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted a provincial government official as saying a 63-year-old herdsman set himself ablaze at the monastery but did not give the man’s name or say whether he survived.
Holy place: The self-immolation took place at Labrang monastery, which is one of the largest in Tibetan Buddhism

Holy place: The self-immolation took place at Labrang monastery, which is one of the largest in Tibetan Buddhism

Self-immolation as a way of protesting against Beijing’s heavy-handed rule in the region has increased in the past 18 months, Free Tibet said.

A reported 56 Tibetans have set themselves alight in ethnic Tibetan areas of China since March 2011.

The Chinese government has confirmed some of the self-immolations.

The Dalai Lama and representatives of the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile in India say they oppose all violence.

‘Tibetan protests are escalating,’ Free Tibet director Stephanie Brigden said in a statement.

‘Dhondup is the eighth Tibetan in the last month alone who has risked his life to protest Chinese rule; seven of the eight have died.’

She said China’s government could recognize that Tibetan demands for freedom cannot be extinguished by force and that it “must enter into meaningful dialogue with Tibetan representatives, supported by the international community.’

SELF-IMMOLATION PROTESTS AGAINST CHINA

China says Tibet has always been part of its territory, but many Tibetans say the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries until Chinese troops invaded in the 1950s.

Beijing blames the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, for fanning anti-government sentiment and routinely purges monasteries and nunneries, where support for the Dalai Lama and Tibetan independence runs high.

Angry and desperate Tibetans have taken to self-immolation in protest, a centuries-long tradition which has become a type of radical political protest.

More than 500 have been reported in Western media since the 1960s.

In March this year a Tibetan man self-immolated in New Delhi, India, to protest a visit by the Chinese president.

In May, one man died and another was seriously injured after they set themselves alight in China’s Qinghai province, shouting pro-independence song and holding Tibetan flags.

The controversial method of protest is much debated among Tibetans themselves. Some Buddhists say suicide is violence, and therefore unacceptable, while others see self-sacrifice for a greater cause as legitimate.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The Native Ameri-Indians as with the South American Tribes, also are in the same state as Tibet. If ‘the West’ wants to see Tibet free from China, then ‘the West’ will need to lead the way by relinquishing control over any Tribes and all at very least, microstate sized territory into sovereign nations. No amount of media reporting will work but pressure via many sovereign states forming in US or Canadian ‘Indian reservations’ become independent governments will be undeniable in effect. Sacrifice the power to empower Tibetans you ‘Westerners’! Self immolations do nothing! Legal UN work as above suggested will work for certain, China will see the USA as breaking up and will feel safe enough to drop control in Tibet (if even under control at all) as well in response.

ARTICLE 19

Drug firms are ‘risking lives by hiding bad trials and side effects of their medicines’ Calls for companies to be made to publish the results of all its trials – by Daniel Martin – PUBLISHED: 00:48 GMT, 24 October 2012 | UPDATED: 06:50 GMT, 24 October 2012

‘You have to ask yourself why is that being held back,’ she said. ‘This is hugely important. And it’s not just about wasting money. This very much matters.’

She called for all historic data to be published, adding it was ‘vitally important’ for patient safety.

‘This really is a current issue,’ she said. ‘It affects patient safety and it’s wasting millions. If we could see a release of all the historic data…I think we would have a completely different evidence base for medicine. I think it’s vitally important for patient safety.’

Her campaign is supported by senior figures at the Royal College of GPs, the British Medical Journal, the Lancet and the Cochrane Library, which holds the largest collection of reports on clinical trials.

Other drugs for which campaigners say full information has not been made available include weight loss drugs orlistat and rimonabant.

Critics of the system estimate that around half of all clinical trials are never published in academic journals – and that trials with positive results are twice as likely to be published.

Yesterday in the Commons, Lib Dem care minister Norman Lamb told Dr Wollaston: ‘The Government support transparency in publishing results of clinical trials, and they recognise that more can, and should, be done.

‘Greater transparency can only serve to further public confidence in the safety of medicines. I am happy for my noble Friend Lord Howe or me to meet her and experts to discuss this important issue further.’

Stephen Whitehead, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, denied drugs firms were not being transparent.

‘As the representative body for pharmaceutical companies in the UK, we take the issue that we are not transparent in our undertaking of clinical trials and causing patient harm very seriously,’ he said.

‘There has been much discussion of clinical trial data transparency over recent weeks, but we stand firm in our position that, as one of the most heavily regulated enterprises in the world, we do not seek to mislead or misinform.

‘Regulation of the industry is rigorous. In the UK, if a medicine is to gain a licence, then the complete clinical trial dataset relating to quality, efficacy and safety must be submitted to the regulatory authorities for approval.

‘We realise that there is still work to be done as we continually move toward greater transparency.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Too many pharmacy lobbyists and GLC links make tranparency difficult. A very strict committee with no such links and sterling reputation for non-corruption AND ethical practice (i.e. very unpopular), is needed or the people will continue to suffer side effects and sudden deaths or whatever.

A successful missile test has ushered in a new era of warfare in which the U.S. military can take out electronic targets without destroying a single building.

The experimental missile fired bursts of high-power microwaves at several target buildings to fry the computers and electrical systems inside during a test at the Utah Test and Training Range on Oct. 16. Such results signaled success for the Counter-electronics High-powered Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) created by Boeing Phantom Works and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.

“In the near future, this technology may be used to render an enemy’s electronic and data systems useless even before the first troops or aircraft arrive,” said Keith Coleman, CHAMP program manager for Boeing Phantom Works.

The idea of using microwaves or electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) to knock out electronic systems without having to reduce cities or military bases to rubble first arose during Cold War nuclear tests. Nuclear explosions created EMPs that unexpectedly damaged some civilian power grids and facilities.

That spawned the military dream of a nonlethal takedown weapon that could disable an enemy’s radar, communications and targeting computers — effectively leaving them blind and unable to respond effectively to follow-up attacks by regular military forces. Such weapons could prove especially useful when assaulting enemies hidden in heavily populated cities or towns without causing civilian casualties.

But the secrecy surrounding U.S. military weapons research led some critics to argue that microwave weapons represented an impossible dream as recently as last month.

Such critics were apparently wrong. The CHAMP missile’s microwaves proved so effective during the recent test that they knocked out some of the cameras used to record video footage of rows of computers blinking off. CHAMP went on to hit seven targets during the one-hour test.

CHAMP’s three-year, $38 million program could eventually deploy up to five prototype missiles. The latest testing seems to suggest that Boeing and the Air Force have succeeded in creating a functional missile capable of taking out many targets with multiple shots.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This technology is rendered ineffective with lead shielding aka ‘hardened’ devices. If MUON particle based waves are used then yes. But most counteries in the 1st world could well afford to install lead shielding over everysingle device or electronic item and that could render the new missile system ineffective in as soon as a few weeks for the military 2-10 years. I can just imgine Iran rushing to plate all their hardware or radar now.

ARTICLE 21

Fiona Phillips slams her former school for turning her into a ‘vile shoplifting teenager’ – by Daily Mail Reporter – PUBLISHED: 11:35 GMT, 25 October 2012 | UPDATED: 13:37 GMT, 25 October 2012

TV presenter Fiona Phillips has launched scathing attack on the education she received at her old school saying it transformed her from a promising pupil into a ‘vile teenager’.

The 51-year-old claimed teachers at Millbrook School in Southampton, Hants, in the 70s crushed her aspirations and left her with just one O-level.

She said: ‘I went in and said I wanted to be a doctor and they said “have you thought about hairdressing?”‘
Rant: Fiona Phillips slammed the education she received at Millbrook School in Southampton when she was invited to be a guest speaker at a ceremony celebrating their rebranding as an Academy

Rant: Fiona Phillips slammed the education she received at Millbrook School in Southampton when she was invited to be a guest speaker at a ceremony celebrating their rebranding as an Academy

The former GMTV presenter’s rant came at what was supposed to be a celebratory ceremony for the rebranding of her former school as a new Academy.

She had been invited to attend as a guest speaker but left former pupils, governors and teachers outraged by her unflattering comments.

She said her education had been an ‘eye-opener’ and turned her into a ‘vile teenager’ who was arrested for shoplifting.

And she regaled those attending with tales of how she and her peers locked a teacher in a cupboard and threw another over a bush.

Blame: The TV presenter said the school turned her into a ‘vile’ shopping-lifting teenager

Her speech at the new 16 million pounds Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill School even saw her brand former head, Fred Lowry, a man who ‘commanded no respect whatsoever’.

Ms Phillips said: ‘It was a school rampant with hormones and no discipline, no aspiration and no encouragement. I went in and said I wanted to be a doctor and they said “have you thought about hairdressing?”

‘I can remember being in classes throwing furniture around. We locked a fashion teacher in a cupboard and threw one over a bush, and that was normal behaviour.
Guest speaker: Fiona Phillips with founder of the Oasis Trust, Steve Chalke, left, and principal Ian Golding. She left many outraged by the content of her speech

Innocence lost: A young Fiona with her brother Mark in 1969. She said her secondary school transformed her from a promising pupil into a vile teen

‘My mother was in despair because I was so vile to her. They used to come and pick me up from the police station after I had been caught for shop lifting. I was in fights after school, I won’t even go into what else went on.

‘My mother couldn’t believe that this constant pupil had turned into this vile teenager.

‘I left with one O-level in English language, purely because I read a lot and all my education came from home.’

Ms Phillips said she had left primary school at the ‘top of her class’ and her arrival at Millbrook School had been an ‘eye-opener’.

She went on to say the teaching staff did ‘nothing’ to shore up educational standards.
‘Not proud of the educuation I had there’: The TV presenter was invited to celebrate the opening of the school’s new building, pictured, and used it as an opportunity to criticise her time at the school in the 70s

‘Not proud of the educuation I had there’: The TV presenter was invited to celebrate the opening of the school’s new building, pictured, and used it as an opportunity to criticise her time at the school in the 70s

She added: ‘I’m proud to say I went to Millbrook School. I’m not proud of the education I had there.’

And if that wasn’t enough, she then raged about the area of Millbrook, saying she was ‘angry’ there had been ‘hardly any investment in nearly half a century.’

The speech has drawn angry criticism from former pupils and governors who have come forward to defend their school.
Attack: Fiona branded her former head, Fred Lowry, pictured, a man who ‘commanded no respect whatsoever’

One, who was a pupil at the same time as Ms Phillips, said: ‘There was nothing wrong with the school nor the pupils who worked hard at their education. Perhaps if Ms Phillips had not spent so much time throwing furniture and teachers around she may have got more out of her time there.

‘I left school with seven O-levels. I went to college and worked for my A-levels and went to university and worked for my degree.

‘I know from personal experience that many of my fellow Millbrook pupils did the same – more than the national average for the time.’

Mayor Derek Burke, a former governor of Millbrook School, accused Ms Phillips of ‘dramatic licence’ saying it ‘wasn’t nearly as bad as she painted’.

He added current head teachers in the city he had spoken to had told him they were ‘very uncomfortable’ with her remarks.

Speaking about former head Fred Lowry, Cllr Burke said: ‘I knew Fred. He was a good head teacher of the school. I believe he had respect.’

He added his own daughters had attended the school and had achieved lots of GCSEs, along with their friends.

Councillor Don Thomas, a pupil at Millbrook School’s predecessor in the 1960s, also came to the school’s defence.

He said: ‘It’s not appropriate for her to be criticising a former local authority school which did a good job in difficult circumstances.’
Success: Fiona went on to be a presenter on GMTV and is pictured here interviewing Tony Blair when he was the Prime Minister

Success: Fiona went on to be a presenter on GMTV and is pictured here interviewing Tony Blair when he was the Prime Minister

He said he had been contacted by one resident who was very angry at Ms Phillips’ outburst.

He added: ‘They were upset at Millbrook being badmouthed. They said it was a good school and proud to go to it.’

In the 1970s and ‘80s Millbrook was one of the largest schools in Southampton with more than 1,200 pupils. Fred Lowry was the head teacher between 1972 and 1988 after moving from St George’s C of E School.

The 85-year-old, who is now retired and living in Ashurst, Hants, declined to comment on Ms Phillips’ accusations.

Ms Phillips was unavailable for comment today.
They could have seen it coming: Fiona previously slated school in her autobiography

Fiona Phillips talked about her ‘lack of education’ at her secondary school in her biography, Before I Forget, published in 2010…
Fiona Phillips autobiography: Before I Forget

‘I found myself dealing with 12-year-olds who had talked about things I didn’t even know the name of. Girls in the fifth year were pregnant, boys were in borstal, and the school seemed to be a hotbed of carnal curiosity and knowledge,’ she wrote.

‘I was in the top set for everything, but that didn’t mean much in a school that struggled so much with discipline and lack of ambition. We were supposedly the elite of the school, yet our maths classes consisted of being given an exercise book and told which pages to work on, before the teacher left and returned at the end of the lesson to go through the answers, when she hadn’t explained how to tackle the questions in the first place.

‘There wasn’t much point in trying to learn when most of the pupils were set against it and their parents didn’t care.’

In some ways I can believe what she said. I went to Belfairs Girls High School in the 70’s and our careers teacher (who was also our RE teacher) had more or less made her mind up what we would be fit for when we left school even before we went for the interview. I said I wanted to be a nurse or work with people and she said the only job I would get would be a lavatory attendant (seriously). She was like this with loads of us and didn’t endear her to the pupils. Although I couldn’t stand the woman (no longer with us) I suppose she was in fact correct, I worked with the elderly for many years which entailed personal care and cleaning up after them and then bought a guest house where I spent years cleaning all the toilets the guests had used every day. Now fortunately I’m retired and only have to clean my own. Some teachers really should not be teachers and Fiona is only saying it how she saw it.

– Rubyjas , Bridlington East Yorkshire, 25/10/2012 13:40

Why is anyone surprised that a victim of the catastrophic errors and the culture of mediocrity in state education condemns their experience of it? We need re-introduce discipline, focus on the basics of grammar, spelling and maths, welcome competition and celebrate success.

– Slumdog27 , Somewhere in the South, 25/10/2012 13:43

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Big deal. Try the Ghettos scools in the 3rd world or even ghetto schools in the first world (i.e. Singapore) for a REAL eye opener. Fiona at least had the fun of being ‘disruptively cool’ and protected by the over reaching human rights awareness for children in the first world, not that Human Rights in the first world are exactly tolerable by the civiliseds’ standards in any case.

What’s striking about Mitt Romney is the amount of questions he dodges during the Republican debates. This analysis was given credence by the FOX News debate poll, which had the crowd favourite Ron Paul coming out on top. Clearly the frontrunner for the Republicans, (why I don’t know), he has managed to emerge victorious from his opening two primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire. Romney gave a reasonable showing in Iowa and considering he has a summer house in New Hampshire, he had considerable sway there.

But his message is consistently inconsistent and this will always be a vulnerability of his. As governor of Boston he was pro-abortion and in fact a supporter of an Obama-styled healthcare package for his state. Both versions of policy he is now deriding in a desperate attempt to illustrate some form of difference, contrasting him from Obama, though in reality they couldn’t be more similar and pathetic as a politician could get.

Besides his ridiculous hair-style and clearly sprayed on tan, let’s dig a little deeper into what his policies are. He plans to repeal “Obama-care,” which didn’t go far enough for progressives. The former governor wants to make Israel the first place he visits, perhaps to shore up relations, despite Israeli influence over Congress never being more profound in recent history. Then there’s the war-mongering rhetoric, which he has spewed with his fellow Republican natives against Iran, with the exception of Ron Paul. So as a candidate compared to Obama and the rest of the Republicans, he’s no better nor is he distinguishable.

Then there’s great intrigue surrounding his financial background, which he is using as a source of experience to help get the American people into work and believe he can get the economy moving. Romney talks about how he has decades of understanding in the private sector and how this has amalgamated him into the perfect candidate to lead the United States out of recession. One must also look into his background in economics before determining whether or not he is indeed the man he says he is. As head of Bain capital, a private equity firm, Romney espouses how he helped invest in new and vibrant businesses and how some went bust, without going into too much detail.

The reality is he’s nothing but a capitalist whore who has ripped the guts out of some businesses after purchasing them on the cheap and after he’s sold off the vital assets of a company; This eventually leading to the company itself being sold and hundreds of employees being laid off, despite the workers being informed of the contrary. Romney comes across as a certain Gordon Gekko out of Wall Street, only this time playing the role of capital venture mogul turned political stooge. To make things worse he has made off with a significant profit with his capitalist cronies to the detriment of the average Joe. Not only has he committed acts that are morally reprehensible but he’s had the gall to laud them as successes.

Ironic that the moron – I mean Mormon – spews such hogwash when analysing the great benefactors behind his bid for Presidency. From recent studies it was revealed that Romney was the second greatest recipient of funding from Wall Street after Barack Obama. It was the financial terrorists on Wall Street which are comprised of a conglomerate of banking giants and corporate investors which coerced the country along with the world into dire straits in the first place!

He talks about a fair deal for all Americans but even his own taxes are a source of contention making it even harder for him to relate to many voters. The former Boston governor’s personal fortune is close to two hundred and fifty million dollars. Not to the surprise of the informed he only pays fifteen per cent tax. Which informs the masses of two things; firstly he has clearly exploited tax loopholes and secondly he is no different from any other candidate in the running for the presidential candidacy.

If Romney wins the Republican nomination as is predicted by many, the Presidential election in November will be a foregone conclusion. Obama will walk to victory because he is a better campaigner and debater than his counterpart. Romney can be targeted on many things from his flip-flopping over policies to his economic background, which is sure to stoke up the class divide. The only nominee of both parties who can represent a stark contrast and hope for change is Ron Paul, whether or not he gets the chance will remain to be seen.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Unless Obama does something ‘drastic’ to the worst of Islamic Theocracy nations and elsewhere where there are no Human Rights or where Human Rights are routinely abused, the Islamist Fundamentalists deserve Romney aka Bush III. Even if USA’s last bash would be to take out the worst of humanity, I’m sure Russia and other military powers would at least not invade the USA afterwards. Go for broke Americans! Neo-colonialism doesn’t seem so bad as compared to fundamentalist theocracy . . .

Labour MP Jon Cruddas was given an eight-month ban at Westminster Magistrates
He put paying for MoT and insurance on a to-do list – but forgot
As policy co-ordinator he is in charge of keeping track of Labour’s ideas to win the election

Labour MP and policy co-ordinator John Cruddas told Westminster Magistrate’s Court he put paying for his insurance and MoT on a to-do list, and forgot to do it

The man in charge of Labour’s election manifesto was banned from driving for eight months today – because he forgot to get insurance and an MoT.

Jon Cruddas told magistrates he had made a note on a ‘to-do’ list to get the vehicle covered but it slipped his mind and he drove without cover for 10 days.

The conviction is especially embarrassing because as Labour’s policy chief he is supposed to be keeping track of all the ideas being used to fill in Ed Miliband’s infamous ‘black sheet of paper’ to win the 2015 general election.

Cruddas, 50, is married to Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill, an aide to Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Harman.

The MP for Dagenham and Rainham was pulled over by police near Hyde Park on July 6 after they spotted what appeared to be a defective brake light.

When he was pulled over in his grey Land Rover Freelander, he said: ‘Sorry I don’t have insurance.’

Today in the dock at Westminster Magistrate’s Court he pleaded guiting to driving without insurance and an MoT.

He had received a letter from Land Rover warning him his insurance had run out, but he had not got round to renewing it.

The court heard Cruddas, who once stood to be Labour’s deputy leader, already had six points on his license for speeding, so a further six points would have meant a compulsory driving ban.

Defending, Mark McDonald said Cruddas had a ‘to-do list’ which including paying for everything, but he forgot.

‘He thought he had an extra week and as a circumstance, he was driving with no insurance. It was in a file on a to-do list. He forgot.’

Sentencing the MP, District Judge John Zani said: ‘It is a straight-forward situation – you didn’t check the letter and you didn’t get round to do your to-do list.

‘I take into account you are a good character and haven’t wasted time. I also take into account the effect on other people. Punishment will be suffered by you and other people because of where you work.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Does Jon John Cruddas know that if enough MPs waive the need for insurance as below link discussed, that there will be nothing to be guilty of?

How does having an MP who did not consider the right to amend the law to allow opt outs, without being penalised in the Criminal Code instead, Jon had to waste time and money – this drags down productivity no end for effectively a non-offense and is entirely against the spirit of the law help the voters better now being less able to move around in his own vehicle for something thus meanigless? 3 terms anyway? So GTFO of Parliament that will at least see a more proactive and better ‘memoried’ MP take over and begin amendments as suggested!

John Hennigan, of Harlow, Essex, made gesture at London pub in February
It put him in breach of Asbo imposed after swastika was on his front door
46-year-old asked manager Paul MacAllion if he ‘only served blacks or Jews’
He told Old Bailey judge ‘no probs’ as he was led away to cells for 21 months

A racist thug who made a Nazi salute inside a packed pub and called black people c***s and n*****s was today jailed for almost two years and branded a ‘disgrace to the values of this country’. John Hennigan, 46, of Harlow, Essex, was caught on camera delivering the fascist gesture in front of shocked drinkers in February at The Magpie pub in Bishopsgate, central London. The antics put him in breach of an Asbo imposed in 2005 when a swastika was discovered daubed on the front door of his council house. It was the seventh time he had flouted the order. Racist: John Hennigan, 46, of Harlow, Essex, was caught on camera delivering the fascist gesture in front of shocked drinkers in February at The Magpie pub in Bishopsgate, central London

Hennigan claimed he had only been raising his arm to collect his change after paying for a drink, but was convicted by a majority verdict of 10-2 after a trial at the Old Bailey in central London. Sentencing Hennigan, Judge Nicholas Cooke QC told him the court was ‘not upholding some culture of political correctness’ but ‘preserving public order’ and dealing with unacceptable behavior. He added: ‘In this crowded public house in this city you gave a Nazi salute and spoke provocatively of Jews. The Holocaust was a crime against humanity of enormous magnitude.

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‘Behaving in the way you did was appalling. You spoke of black people as c***s and n*****s.

‘The use of such terms is grossly offensive and conjures up memories of the slave trade, again a crime against humanity of enormous magnitude. Behaving in such a way was likewise appalling.’

The judge said Hennigan’s antics were also an affront to those who fought against the ‘racist evil of Nazism’ in the Second World War and ‘insults the memories of those who sacrificed themselves’. London pub: Hennigan had been barred from The Magpie in central London two times before but was spotted on CCTV by manager Paul MacAllion. ‘He was making Nazi salutes at the bar,’ the manager said London pub: Hennigan had been barred from The Magpie in central London two times before but was spotted on CCTV by manager Paul MacAllion. ‘He was making Nazi salutes at the bar,’ the manager said He added: ‘You see yourself as some sort of loyal nationalist or crusader against Communism. You are in fact a disgrace to the values of this country.’

Hennigan, who attended court wearing a T-shirt with an image of left-wing Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara with a line through it, told the judge ‘no probs’ as he was led away to the cells. ‘You see yourself as some sort of loyal nationalist or crusader against Communism. You are in fact a disgrace to the values of this country’

Judge Nicholas Cooke QC

The racist has 43 previous convictions for offences including drug and firearm possession and common assault. He was last before the courts for breaching his Asbo in 2010. That was after he launched racist abuse at a newsagent before attacking him with a sweet display.

Hennigan had been barred from The Magpie two times before but was spotted on CCTV by manager Paul MacAllion. ‘He was making Nazi salutes at the bar,’ the manager said

‘I was trying to make sure it was the same guy I had barred, staring at the CCTV, and three times I saw him do it. I went immediately down to the bar and confronted him. Hearing: Hennigan, who attended the Old Bailey wearing a T-shirt with an image of left-wing Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara with a line through it, told the judge ‘no probs’ as he was led away ‘He’d bought a drink so I got the money from the bar staff, gave him his money back and told him to get out because I’d barred him previously and he was making Nazi salutes.

‘At that stage I think he said something like: “If I was a Jew or a c**n you wouldn’t be doing this”.’ As he was kicked out, Hennigan told Mr McAllion: ‘If my mum and dad came down would they be barred too? Or do you just serve blacks and Jews?’ ‘If my mum and dad came down would they be barred too? Or do you just serve blacks and Jews?’

What John Hennigan was said to have told pub manager Paul McAllion Hennigan faces a further charge of assaulting a police officer, which will be dealt with by City of London magistrates. He is said to have branded a constable a ‘f***ing pathetic little creature’ when confronted about his outburst in The Magpie. He also faces another trial for a further breach of the Asbo, which is due to take place at Chelmsford Crown Court later this year. Hennigan denied a single count of breaching an Asbo. He was convicted and jailed for 21 months.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

i) Hennigan had been barred from The Magpie two times before but was spotted on CCTV by manager Paul MacAllion. ‘He was making Nazi salutes at the bar,’ the manager said ‘I was trying to make sure it was the same guy I had barred, staring at the CCTV, and three times I saw him do it. I went immediately down to the bar and confronted him.

ii) Hennigan faces a further charge of assaulting a police officer, which will be dealt with by City of London magistrates. He is said to have branded a constable a ‘f***ing pathetic little creature’ when confronted about his outburst in The Magpie.

Aye that!

iii) Hennigan denied a single count of breaching an Asbo. He was convicted and jailed for 21 months.

Oh great, favour the prison-building-contractor-supplier complex some more. Englands finished at 40K per year per prisoner.

Thats the only chargeable offense. As for the cussing etc., enforcement should be already trained to ignore that sort of thing as per Freedom of Speech. Thats what sets the police apart from the regular citizens – discipline. Police who do not have the sklll to ignore such verbal abuse and sure as hell cannot handle the real criminals. Hennigan is a tough and in fact negatively patriotic civilian (better than treacherous bankers that sell off or destroy the country, or politicians that only want to enrich themselves and refuse to amend laws while hogging democratic space by exceeding term limits or even regfusing to ratify term limits) but no criminal action occurs unless property was destroyed or assault or any touching or manhandling at very least occured.

“Bertilak” may derive from bachlach, a Celtic word meaning “churl” (i.e. rogueish, unmannerly). Alternatively it may derive from “bresalak”, meaning “contentious”. He tests Moses three times by doing seemingly evil acts, which are eventually revealed to be noble deeds to prevent greater evils or reveal great goods. Without this sort of nuance of harsh teachers to put England on a learning curve of logic and readiness to resolve issues in society, England winds up with ‘f***ing pathetic little creatures’ without nuance and in this case ‘coarse subtlty’.

Had to imprison the guy 21 months instead on the taxpayer’s monies eh? England is finished. Let the ‘f***ing pathetic little creatures’ run the show abit longer, and the English will be wailing along with the worst of them x times a day. As for the assault, I’m sure the taxpayers and Hennigan would prefer (and be well able to handle) to allow the cop to hit back with an equal number of punches and kicks in ‘revenge’ and be done with the whole sorry drama. Tyrants’ natures are indeed most unworthy of respect, and the worst colonial powers in the world are not surprisingly the English. No one in the world weak enough, or primitive enough to bully so going after the citizens now eh? Pitiful and mealy minded English!

Try this organic response to what might be a like minded aspiring champion . . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Knight
Villanaise the heroes and make heros of the villains, little wonder Scotland sees no reason to stick around and thats not just about the load of insulting innuendo etc. . . .

People make noise as they take part in a casserole march to protest against government’s austerity reforms and the public payment of bank’s debts on October 13, 2012 in Madrid. (AFP Photo / Pedro Armestre)

Demonstrators across the world are calling for an end to austerity as Global Noise protests kick off in more than 30 countries, including many in the Nobel Peace laureate European Union.

­The worldwide demonstrations on Saturday passed without incident, and Caleb Maupin from the International Action Centre explained what’s driving the public to take to the streets.

RT: A year ago Occupy Wall Street spread across the world, and now it’s Global Noise. What is Global Noise all about? How is it different?

Caleb Maupin: Basically, Global Noise is saying we are not going to be silent. Because right now the banks are coming for us – they are cutting all of the programs. There is mass unemployment. There is cutting in government spending and the governments of the world are just having to pay back the banks.

And in the process, our future is being destroyed. It is impossible to get an education in this country without a rising debt. What we are saying is that we are going to be a global noise. We are the next generation, the youth part of the working class as our future is being destroyed. We are not going to silently sit back and let them destroy our future. We are going to be loud. We are going to be confrontational and we are going demand that this stop.

Austerity is a crime against the people. These cuts are a crime against us, and we are going to demonstrate and we are going to oppose it.

RT: America has not seen austerity cuts as of yet. But in Europe this is precisely what the Global Noise rallies were aimed against. Is it merely a show of support for Europe, or is there, say, a message in the demonstrations for the US presidential candidates?

CM: There are plenty of austerity cuts in the United States. Food stamps, a program which many millions of people depend on so they can have food, is being cut. College prices are going up. They had kind of halted it because they are planning after the elections to have austerity. All the major cuts are going to happen after the election.

But even with these latest debates, you see Romney and Ryan, Obama and Biden, they are all debating how much to cut. How responsibly can you get rid of Social Security, how responsibly can we do it? It is austerity, it is global austerity. Because, you know, Lenin spoke of it in his book – imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism, because the banks kind of become the center of capitalism, its monopoly stage.

And right now it is a revolt against banks. Instead of people having to take all these cuts, why don’t they simply start the cuts to the banks? The government of the United States has the ability to do that. They can pass legislature saying that the banks have to be delayed, but instead they keep paying back the banks with these loans that have taken from the government, and programs that people need to survive on are being cut.

At a time of mass unemployment, millions of youth have great anger on what’s going on, and it is exploding into a global anti-capitalist rebellion. It is here in US. The phrase “we are the 99%” represents what millions of people understand, which is that a small elite, the bankers, capitalists, they own the world and the rest of us just get to live in it.

Well, it is time that we are heard. We are a global noise and we are going to rise up and demand a change to that situation.

RT: Presidential elections are coming up in the US and the Obama administration is criticized for the bailout, while Republicans are promising austerity. And what do you think the policy should be for the US here?

CM: I think whoever wins this election, it is very clear that after the election, it’s over. They are going to begin an extreme amount of mass austerity. And the terms of the debate are sickening – the terms of the debate are essentially how much to cut. Some people say, we should just cut everything; others say we should just cut a little bit. No! The people don’t have to pay for the crisis the bankers created.

But that message is not part of the discourse in this country right now. The discourse is limited to one form of cutting or one form of cutbacks, and that is frightening. And that is why the Occupy movement came in. We are the 99%, or as the labor movement and progressive forces have said for a long time – class against class.

It is not Republicans versus Democrats. It is about the bankers versus the people – the people who sell their labor to survive and those who own the world.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

For every step nearer to cuts of any sort, let there be very dead people in ever step, and a very obvious trail of footprints to those who cause such harm. So that retaliation will be unavoidable and so that those who cause such harm will be not dare harm any other. Some of us have the right, anyone else does not, differentiate and rain punishment upon those who presume to presume anything or any word. No more foreclosures and compound interest upon the jobless.

X Factor star Gary Barlow says claims the show is rigged have damaged its integrity.

The Take That singer stormed off set last Sunday after fellow judge Louis Walsh failed to save his singer Carolynne Poole ahead of ‘joke’ act Rylan Clarke. By withholding his vote, he forced a Deadlock.

The result, which saw Miss Poole sent home as the act with the fewest public votes, came after viewers saw Walsh in conversation with the programme’s executive producer.

Asked if he thought the integrity of the programme had been damaged, 41-year-old Barlow said: ‘I think in the short term, definitely because I just know what I’m being told as I go round and speak to the public.’

Some viewers felt last week’s show was a fix, because producers engineered the judging so they could lose the contestant they wanted.

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But Barlow said: ‘People’s votes do count. What people spend their money on was worth it. The two things I worry about are the contestants and the fans and I think it did us no favours last weekend.

‘The idea of it being a fix, I hate stuff like that. We’ve got really talented people up there and I don’t want to cheapen it. It was a bad end to the week. It was disappointing.’
Barlow said he had spoken to producers about ensuring there was never any suggestion programme-makers were influencing the judges’ votes

Barlow said he had spoken to producers about ensuring there was never any suggestion programme-makers were influencing the judges’ votes

Barlow also said he had spoken to producers about ensuring there was never any suggestion programme-makers were influencing the judges’ votes.

‘The whole thing about someone coming up on stage – that will never happen again,’ he said. ‘Even if it’s just to say which order we’ve got to vote in. There should be no one on that stage with us and I said that after last week’s show. ‘

Barlow added that he had been taken to task by his mother Marjorie for being disrespectful to Louis. ‘My mum always tells me to respect my elders, so I got a bit of a telling-off on Sunday.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This is b.s.. All of the audience should vote on a 1 to 1 basis. A handful of judges voting alone destroys democracy. This is a 1% situation. Remake the damn voting system you producers! How about a button the every member of the audience can press, and randomly selected ‘debate’ judges to sit alongside and even argue with the ‘star’ judges? Much more inclusive means that much more fun and democratic.

ARTICLE 4

120,000 troubled families could be legally banned from spending benefits on alcohol and tobacco – by Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent

Troubled families living on benefits will be legally barred from spending welfare money on alcohol and tobacco, under plans being drawn up in Whitehall.
8:00AM BST 13 Oct 2012

Iain Duncan Smith has asked his officials to see if so-called ‘problem’ families should receive their welfare payments on smart cards, rather than in cash.

The cards would only be able to pay for “priority” items such as food, housing, clothing, education and health care.

The Work and Pensions secretary wants to stop parents who are alcoholics or who are on drugs from using welfare payments to fuel their addictions.

The team of civil servants in his department have been asked to come up with proposals by the end of this month.

However the Government cannot currently stipulate how people spend their benefits money and the law would need to be changed to do so for certain groups.

One idea is for the 120,000 problem families who were identified in the Government’s riots review to be given the Oyster-style cards.

A source close to Mr Duncan Smith said: “There are people who are using benefits to fund a habit and children are going hungry.

“It is something that he is serious about – if he can make it work and he can legislate then he is very keen to do it.”

The charge card model is based on a “basics card” scheme which started to be rolled out for thousands of people in Australia in August this year.

Instead of being given cash or cheques, claimants are now issued with electronic “credit” cards to purchase key “priority” items at approved stores across the country.

Money is electronically placed on the card once a fortnight, when people receive their benefit payments. No more than A$1,500 (£961) can be spent per day. If money is not spent, it can be built up as savings.

Mr Duncan Smith said he was against using a US-style food stamps system because they are often traded as a form of currency.

The Cabinet minister disclosed his plans at a meeting of Conservative activists at the party conference this week.

He said: “I am looking at the moment at ways in which we could ensure that money we give them to support their lives is not used to support a certain lifestyle.

“I am certainly looking at it – I am going through that in some detail… With the use of cards, we are looking at that to see if we can do something.

In the immediate aftermath of the 2011 riots in English cities, Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to turn around the lives of the 120,000 by 2015.

He said: “I have an ambition, before the end of this Parliament, we will turn around the lives of 120,000 most troubled families.

“We need more urgent action, too, on the families that some people call ‘problem’, others call ‘troubled’, the ones that everyone in their neighbourhood knows and often avoids.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Fair enough. People on the dole should not expect too much fun for doing nothing at least until the country is on even keel. Not that the country denies such luxuries but alcohol and tobacco are luxuries after all that a country is debt should be forgiven for not spending on. At the same time prices rises in alcohol should not be applied. If the poor work part time and alcohol takes all their earnings, how does that help the economy? Perhaps an assignment of amount that they can buy of either at most in exchange for free state insurance for example? All that biometrics and credit card control etc.. and nothing applied.

ARTICLE 5

‘It was really disgusting’: Susan Sarandon reveals she was exploited on the casting couch as a young actress – by Celeste Morgan – PUBLISHED: 01:05 GMT, 14 October 2012 | UPDATED: 07:09 GMT, 14 October 2012

She’s an Oscar winner and one of the biggest stars of her generation.

But there was a time when Susan Sarandon was just another unknown hoping to make it in showbusiness.

And the actress has revealed that as a young hopeful she was the victim of exploitation as she auditioned for a role.

She confided to Elle magazine about a ‘disgusting,’ casting-couch experience that happened in her younger years.

Younger days: Susan Sarandon during her early career at the age of 24 in 1970

‘It was not successful – for either of us,’ Sarandon explained, when asked if she had ever had a casting-couch experience.

‘I just went into a room, and a guy practically threw me on the desk.

‘It was my early days in New York, and it was really disgusting. It wasn’t like I gave it a second though, it was so badly done.’
Stunner:Another age defying moment for Susan at a Conde Naste event in September in New York

Stunner: Another age defying moment for Susan at a Conde Naste event in September in New York

She does not give any details of which audition she was assaulted at.

Sarandon had her first audition at 23 when she went to a casting call for the motion picture Joe, landing a major co-starring role in the film, which was released in 1970.

The actress went on to win an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking.

Toyboy: Susan and her 35-year-old boyfriend Jonathan Bricklin

In her interview, as reported on Radar online, she also defended her romance with her much-younger boyfriend, ping-pong entrepreneur Jonathan Bricklin.

‘People make him out to be much younger than he is – and me older,’ Sarandon explained to the fashion magazine, clarifying that he is 35, not 33 as has been widely reported.

As well as being lovers, the pair are business partners in ping-pong club SPiN.

The couple have been linked since 2010 after Susan split from longtime partner Tim Robbins, with whom she has two children.

Susan kept mum on her rumoured relationship with Jonathan until March of this year.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

For the right person and in the right mood, Susan wouldn’t have felt bothered at all and even laid into the whole sleazy Hollywood thing. Breast jiggles and gluteal gropes anyone?

When Empires Join Hands: Japanese Military Joins U.S. And NATO In Horn Of Africa

Moscow: Japan’s recent illegal moves to “purchase” China’s Diaoyu Islands show militarism is on the rise in that country, according to a Russian war veteran.

Vasili Ivanov, deputy head of the Russia-China Friendship Society’s Central Office, told Xinhua that Japan’s refusal to recognize China’s sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands, which was stipulated in post-war documents, showed a “resurrection of the samurai.”

The 91-year-old, who fought Japanese troops in northeast China during World War II, said some Japanese, especially right-wingers, did not recognize the country’s unconditional and voluntary surrender in the war.

“Japan’s refusal to recognize the war results means they will demand the return of all they had before the war – lands, islands they illegally occupied and lost,” Ivanov said.

“All their escapades, including the recent one against China, are meant to confirm their right to these lands,” he said.

“We, along with other participants in the war against Japan, are categorically against the return of Japanese militarism,” the veteran said.

Ivanov said the Diaoyu Islands had never belonged to Japan and China was recognized as the rightful owner by binding post-war legal documents, such as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation.

The two documents stipulated Japan should return all the territories taken from China, including Taiwan and its surrounding islands, he said.

However, under agreements with the United States, Japan illegally occupied the Diaoyu Islands and now even tried to claim them.

Japan might go further with its territorial ambitions, keeping its relations with China, Russia, South Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on edge, the veteran warned.

He urged closer cooperation among those countries in opposing Tokyo’s rising militaristic ambitions.

“Leaders (of those countries) ought to give a due rebuff to Japanese ultra-right forces. They should tell the ultra-right wingers this is it – all is settled and recognized by the whole world. No changes can be made now,” Ivanov said.

The Japanese right wingers should know their farces would come to naught, the veteran said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The Japs are still cool and ahead of time (barely – though without substance – i.e. all the giant and slick mecha cartoons and culture starting in the 80s, but when Fukushima struck 30 years later, all they had was a soviet era clamp type robotic arm on a threadbare/rickety motorized servette that broke down . . . mount some guns on this sort of robot, mass produce and conquer the worst of the Middle East and any nepotist run ASEAN nations . . . ), but the Japanese attitudes and history are rubbish no thanks to the right wingers. Tacit approval via silence becomes an issue with the Chrysanthemum King . . . United Korea, Mongolia and China reclaim what was stolen (Monarchy / 12 century fleet’s lives / Centre of Far East and Imperium)

The two-time monarch loved fast cars and women, survived the Khmer Rouge and trod the world stage.

Former King of Cambodia dies – Norodom Sihanouk, the former King of Cambodia with a record number of political titles, has died in Beijing at 89.

THE body of Norodom Sihanouk, the cherubic, mercurial but ruthless two-time king of Cambodia and a towering figure in Asia’s politics will be brought home from China for a grand cremation in the Cambodian and Buddhist tradition.

He died, aged 89, early on Monday in Beijing after a long illness. Across Cambodia, flags flew at half mast and monks chanted for the feudal-style monarch who was beloved by his people but was seldom able to deliver the peace they craved through decades of violence.

Sihanouk’s son and successor, Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Hun Sen flew to Beijing to retrieve the body of the sax-playing, champagne-serving monarch.

Cambodia’s then King Norodom Sihanouk,79, greets his subjects upon his arrival at the annual crop-planting ceremony outside the royal palace in Phnom Penh. Photo: Reuters

Many Cambodians regarded him as semi-divine, although some of the younger generation saw him as a figure of the past and partly responsible for the country’s tragedies.
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Prince Sisowath Thomico, a royal family member who was his assistant, said the former king had suffered a heart attack at a hospital.

”It’s painful. I am full of sorrow … King Sihanouk did not belong to his family, he belonged to Cambodia and to its history,” the prince said.

Suffering illnesses including colon cancer, diabetes and hypertension, Sihanouk asked in January that his ashes be placed in a stupa at the river-front Royal Palace, in an urn, preferably made of gold.

A massive crowd of mourners are expected for the funeral.

Born on October 31, 1922, Sihanouk was crowned king by the French occupiers in 1941.
Wearing the traditionnal “krama”, Prince Norodom Sihanouk (right), poses with Khieu Samphan, top Khmer Rouge leader, in the Cambodia maquis.

They assumed the giggling, overweight prince would be compliant to their requests.

But he became a ruthless politician who played superpowers off against each other while maintaining a role at home and in world politics.

He kept Cambodia neutral during the Cold War, nurtured relations with communist China, was a founder of the Non-Aligned Movement, broke off diplomatic relations with the US over the Vietnam War and was sent into lonely exile in Beijing after a US-backed coup in 1970.

Cambodia’s then King Norodom Sihanouk (left) and Queen Monineth wave to the crowd upon their arrival at the annual boat racing festival in Phnom Penh in 2001. Photo: Reuters

Sihanouk has been criticised for his support of the Khmer Rouge in the early 1970s.

But his relations with the organisation responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians was always strained.

”The Khmer Rouge do not like me at all, and I know that,” he said in a 1973 interview.

”When they no longer need me, they will spit me out like a cherry.”

When he returned to Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge ordered his execution, but he was saved by Chinese leader Zhou Enlai.

In a 2005 memoir, he said he ”dared to struggle in alliance” with the Khmer Rouge, but condemned their ”despotic and bloody regime”.

Sihanouk was famous for singing love songs at elaborate dinners.

He made movies, brought his French poodle to negotiations, married at least five times and fathered 14 children.

He liked fast cars, food and women. He dazzled world leaders with his wit, often entertaining diplomats and foreign officials with champagne breakfasts and French meals.

Weary of politics, he stepped down from the throne for the last time in 2004.

Bravery then alliance with the enemy? Convoluted.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Cradle of life anyone? Sihanouk had some bad patches as well, to support Khmer Rouge when one could remain neutral is uncalled for. Then again perhaps Sihanouk has no such luxury ASEAN being a very dangerous place post WW2.

ARTICLE 8

Sinclair News Contribution Challenge In Support of im2moro.org – October 12, 2012 – by Lawrence Sinclair

In an effort to support the young people behind Voices Without a Vote Sinclair News is offering the first business or individual who contributes $1000.00 to im2moro.org (im2moro is a non-profit 501c3, tax-exempt organization, which means your donations are tax deductible. Our tax ID is 27-2901233) in response to this challenge, a one year static header banner ad on Sinclair News. This banner ad will be placed in our header above the Sinclair News logo and will display on every page every time this site is visited. From Oct 5, 2012 thru Oct 11, 2012 Sinclair news has been displayed to 1,076,934 visitors (stats from CloudFare analytical).

The business or individual who wishes to meet this Challenge may contact Audrea Taylor to make the contribution. Please inform Miss. Taylor the contribution is in response to the Sinclair News, Through the Mirror w/Larry Sinclair Ad Challenge so Miss. Taylor can notify us who has earned the one year banner ad spot.

Im2moro: Telling Us Today What Tomorrow Should Bring

We all have to Speak Out, and Stand Up as Taylor and her peers proudly proclaim on im2moro.org’s web site. Last night Through the Mirror w/Larry Sinclair spoke with im2moro co-founders Audrea Taylor; Blake Andersen and Luke Andersen (you can listen to the interview from here

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Its not always true that adults know whats best for the children, and the time has long since come and passed where adults need to be slapped across the back of the head by the very children we say we are protecting. Anyone who has ever watched the CBS program NCIS, you know that Agent Gibbs is always slapping Agent Dinozzo on the back of the head to get his attention, well we see the kids behind im2moro as Agent Gibbs and the adults as Dinozzo.

Clearly if we are to be seen as being genuinely concerned with the tomorrow for our kids and grand kids, then we must listen to them and bring them into the conversation and the decision making process. What we find truly amazing about this group of young people is that:

1. They are not promoting a particular party or candidate, but instead are simply demonstrating how based on Constitutional Principles we can come together for the betterment and interest of ALL Americans and the 2moro’s for our children.

2. Rather than try and beat someone over the head based on party or politician, these young people are building upon what we all have in common and agree on.

This is an organization which was founded and has grown through teenagers who when it started were just 12, 13, 15 years old. There is an old proverb “out of the mouths of babes,” which could not be anymore appropriate in describing these young men and women (who despite their ages are just that, young men & women).

Not only is Sinclair News offering one year of header banner static ad space to one person or business who contributes $1000.00 to im2moro.org, we challenge other organizations who sell advertising on their sites to do the same.

Any readers who would like to support this organization can do so by clicking on the below im2moro image which will take you to the groups donation page.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

People, start by offering yourself as a candidate if your hegelian dialectic Rep./Dem. offers dead wood or term limitless. First law should be to distribute unused state land for growing of food (that will stop the food stamp issue and keep the jobless busy) to the homeless and the poor AS WELL as stop foreclosures of homes and further compound interest on homes.

Require the next or more generation to pay the remnant at flat rate BUT NO INTEREST and NO FORECLOSURES. Those without jobs should not be made homeless as well. Those second or third or more homes not in use can still be foreclosed but those who are jobless should be left off foreclosure until they find jobs, at which point only 20% of the salary could be applied – people owing banks got to eat too.

If the above is ratified into law by ALL Congressmen, and all Governors, USA would be abut more sustainable, though banks might have to wait longer to get their money back.

Slower economic growth took its toll on many of China’s 100 biggest fortunes, according to the 2012 Forbes China Rich List, with 45 of them slipping from last year’s count and their total assets dropping 7 percent to $220 billion.

Wahaha boss tops China rich list

Zong Qinghou, the founder and chairman of the beverage producer Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co Ltd, who topped the list in 2010, regained his title as the richest businessmen in China, with a net worth of nearly $10 billion, according to the list.

With an 80 percent share in Wahaha, Forbes said Zong’s fortune exceeded 60 billion yuan ($9.57 billion), over 2 billion yuan more than last year.

Wang Jianlin, chairman and president of Dalian Wanda Group Co Ltd, was the fastest riser in the past year, seeing his wealth jump from 25.6 billion yuan to 50.4 billion yuan, making up the top three with Zong and Robin Li from China’s search engine company Baidu.

The Forbes list comes a fortnight after Zong, 67, topped the Hurun Rich List 2012, which estimated his fortune at $12.6 billion, the second time he has topped the list produced by the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute.

Russell Flannery, a senior editor at Forbes and chief of its Shanghai Bureau, said: “Wang outperformed with his greatest success entering the entertainment industry with the announcement of a $2.6 billion acquisition of US cinema chain AMC Entertainment.”

The Forbes list was compiled using shareholding and financial information obtained from the families and individuals, stock exchanges, analysts and China’s regulatory agencies.

Public fortunes were calculated based on stock prices and exchange rates as of Sept 21. Private companies were valued based on similar companies that are publicly traded.

Compared to Zong and Wang, others in the demanding consumer sector did not fare as well, however.

Zhang Jindong, the chairman of Suning Appliance Co Ltd, saw a drop in his value of $2.4 billion, even as he opened up a commanding market lead over longtime rival Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd, owned by Huang Guangyu who suffered a $2 billion drop in value and who still sits in jail for financial crimes.

Qiu Guanghe of the fashion chain Zhejiang Semir Group shed $2.8 billion and fell to 37th.

“Most of the businesses related to the consumer and retail sectors are suffering in these tough times by making less profits and experiencing some financial problems,” said Flannery. He added that the total number of billionaires in China fell from 146 last year to 113 this year, caused by the economic slowdown.

Several property tycoons also suffered, with last year’s list leader Liang Wengen seeing his worth drop $3.4 billion as demand slowed for the building materials produced by Sany Heavy Industry Co Ltd, which he chairs.

The real estate sector as a whole also saw several casualties within the list, as property deals cooled and developers saw projects shelved and prices slow.

“All those ups and downs of rich people in China in different industries lead to the conclusion that the slowdown of China’s economy has brought uncertainty to local private enterprises,” said Zhou Jiangong, chief editor of Forbes Chinese edition.

yuran@chinadaily.com.cn

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Wahaha? Stop laughing over there and wake up or embolden the cowards in certain governments. Being great alone safe in China, is no good if your country still has poor or other Chinese elsewhere are getting the short end of the political stick. Being great alone is not great if in other countries your fellow countrymen are oppressed or enslaved or treated below others. Do set up and fund political parties to challenge inequality for all Chinese across the world! The Chinese expect equality at very least and if China’s colonies fall from neglect of Chinese rights, China will not be able to project power and that same rot will actually reach China from sheer neglect. The courage or funds lacking in some places needs to come from China.

Fred Dixon, 18, and David Aston-Brown, 20, have been jailed for three years
Pair pounced on Roger Brookes, 37, before punching him to the floor
Dixon had previous convictions for battery and common and sexual assault
Thug Aston-Brown had previous convictions for racially aggravated public disorder, battery against an ex-girlfriend and handling stolen goods

Two thugs battered a factory worker in the street and robbed him of 80p while dressed as a tiger and a red devil.

Fancy dress duo Fred Dixon, 18, and David Aston-Brown, 20, pounced on Roger Brookes, 37, in the early hours of August 20.

The pair shouted at Mr Brookes as he made his way to work at a plant in Hereford before snatching his rucksack, a court has heard.

Fred Dixon, 18, and David Aston-Brown, 20, dressed up as a tiger and a red devil and battered an innocent man
Fred Dixon battered a man in the street and robbed him of just 80p

David Aston-Brown battered a man in the street and robbed him of just 80p

Dixon, left and Aston-Brown, right, ‘got drunk’ and dressed up in fancy dress to go and ‘mess around’

Security cameras captured the thugs punching him to the floor, causing him to cut his head.

Dixon then put Mr Brookes in a head-lock so Aston-Brown could kick him in the chest, Worcester Crown Court heard.

After emptying their victim’s bag on the floor the thugs made off with just 80p, a key ring and a work clocking-in card.

The pair were jailed for three years each on Monday.

Sentencing the pair from Whitecross, Hereford, Judge John Cavell said: ‘This was determined street violence on a complete stranger.

‘You stole property that was almost trifling in its value, but caused serious harm to your victim.’

When police released CCTV images of the thugs in August, it was originally thought they were dressed as cats.

But before they were sentenced it was revealed Dixon wore a tiger-print all-in-one suit, while Aston-Brown was dressed as a red devil.
The men, pictured in a corridor in their fancy dress costumes, have past convictions for battery

The men, pictured in a corridor in their fancy dress costumes, have past convictions for battery

CCTV footage captures the two thugs in their costumes in the early hours of August 20

Defending Dixon, Michael Aspinall said the men had got drunk, dressed up and gone out to ‘mess around’.

He added: ‘These were two heavily intoxicated young men had gone out, in Fred Dixon’s case in breach of a curfew, but not to commit offences.’

The court heard Dixon had previous convictions for battery, common assault, sexual assault, criminal damage and an attempted robbery.

While Aston-Brown had previous convictions for racially aggravated public disorder, battery against an ex-girlfriend and handling stolen goods.

Dixon had only been released from a youth detention centre less than two weeks before the incident.

Speaking after the case, Detective Sergeant Tim Powell from Hereford Police said: ‘The case was solved thanks to the media reports and members of the public coming forward to give information that led us to CCTV footage which positively identified the suspects, leaving them with no option but to plead guilty.’

Both men had pleaded guilty to robbery at an earlier hearing.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

How about asking if the victim would like to kick the attackers back approximately equally hard back, and save the taxpayers 3 years of jail costs after dismissing the case?

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who has pledged to repeal Obamacare, says that people without health insurance don’t have to worry about dying as a result.

“We don’t have people that become ill, who die in their apartment because they don’t have insurance,” Romney said in an interview with the Columbus Dispatch’s editorial board on Wednesday.

While it’s difficult to tell how many people die each year from lack of health insurance, one study, from a health care advocacy group, puts the number at 26,000 deaths per year.

“We don’t have a setting across this country where if you don’t have insurance, we just say to you, ‘Tough luck, you’re going to die when you have your heart attack,'” he added in the interview. “No, you go to the hospital, you get treated, you get care, and it’s paid for, either by charity, the government or by the hospital.”

Romney took a similar stance in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” in late September, when he said: “We do provide care for people who don’t have insurance. If someone has a heart attack, they don’t sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care.”

Roughly 4 in 25 Americans, or nearly 49 million Americans, had no health insurance last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Repealing Obamacare would deny access to health insurance to about 30 million uninsured Americans who would have received it under health care reform.

Letting so many people go uninsured ultimately can cost both individuals and society. When people lack health insurance, their health worsens, and their health treatments become more expensive, research has found. People without health insurance also are in danger of facing massive medical bills, debt, and bankruptcy if they get sick or injured.

On top of that, society at large sometimes must pay for the uninsured through higher taxes and health care costs. The government often helps pay for unpaid emergency room bills. States and cities that run hospitals lose money when hospital bills go unpaid. And economists have found that hospitals sometimes charge higher prices for health care, and health insurance companies sometimes charge higher premiums, because the uninsured often are unable to pay for health care.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Indirect assurance that neurotech will not be used to enrich insurance businesses or enable healthcare profiteering? If Romney is aware, Romney had better get the FBO or CIA take away access from the 3rd world Junta this sort of technology. USA’s democracy will be safer than if the Hudud accepting freaks get their hands on this and end up playing the USA into terrorist hands while real world citizens who would stop such undemocratic monsters are destroyed.

ARTICLE 12

‘We seem very conservative, but we have the BIGGEST desires’ – China sex festival – Tuesday, 09 October 2012 06:44

“One-two-THREE! CONTROL! … and relax,” Ma Jian urges. The 78-year-old author is addressing a few dozen men clustered around a stage in Guangzhou, but he aspires to a much bigger audience. “China has more than 2,000 years of sexual history and culture and skills. It has sexual experience which western countries have never known. I want to introduce its expertise to people here and people overseas and make all men happy,” he said.

“I want all women to benefit. I take guys who shoot in three minutes and teach them to hang on for 30. That’s long enough.”

Until 10 years ago this evangelist was, he said, “an underground worker”, toiling in strictest secrecy. He grew up in the sexually repressive society created by Mao Zedong. The chairman of the People’s Republic may have shared his own bed with numerous women, but under his rule bodies were disguised in shapeless suits and holding hands in public was shocking.

Even in the 80s, after liberalisation had begun, a man was executed for organising orgies. Now Ma rattles off his advice – swimming increases sexual desire; pee in short bursts, not a stream – at a convention co-hosted by family planning authorities.

More than 30,000 visitors thronged last weekend to the 10th national (Guangzhou) sex culture festival to watch pole dancers, buy 007-brand condoms and browse porn in a resolutely unerotic exhibition centre. Couples take happy snaps with giant virility figures, and unabashed shoppers fondle realistic sex dolls (though not, this year, inflatable Obamas). The wealthiest can even choose a 100,000 yuan (£10,000) solid gold “pleasure object” – the kind of high-class product that appeals to shoppers usually found in Louis Vuitton or Dolce & Gabbana, a sales assistant said.

Chinese sex fair catwalk

But the shots of “artistic nudes” are tame by western standards. And though hordes of men photograph furiously as semi-clad models strut to a disco version of the Old Spice theme, there’s no pouting or lip-licking. These days, sexual experimentation and puritanism sit side by side in China.

Qiu Shuang, a lesbian activist and sex toy saleswoman, argued that repression had only kindled passions. “Maybe we seem very conservative, but we have the biggest desires,” she said.

China has an estimated six million sex workers, yet nudity is unacceptable in the cinema and there are periodic anti-porn crackdowns. Women have hymen restoration surgery so their husbands will believe they are virgins. Two years ago, an academic was jailed for hosting sex parties. It is no coincidence that the official denunciation of the disgraced politician Bo Xilai accused him of improper sexual relationships with several women.

“People still frown on serial dating … [but] there are 200,000 sex shops and these huge sexual expos. Are they prudish about sex or are they incredibly liberated?” asked Richard Burger, whose new book, Behind the Red Door, chronicles the history of sex in China.

He argues that for centuries China’s leaders have swung between sexual openness and repression. In the Tang dynasty, prostitutes were registered; the late Ming saw explicit novels such as The Plum in the Golden Vase.

At times, homosexual love has been celebrated. At other times, erotic books have been burned.

In the west, the sexual revolution was part of a wider movement of personal liberation and challenges to authority. But in China, the post-Mao shift from procreation to recreation was driven not by the Beatles and Lady Chatterley but by the Communist party.

Sex dolls in Guangzhou

After the Cultural Revolution, the government’s control [of people’s lives] started loosening, and at the same time the one-child policy meant people could have sex lives that weren’t for the purpose of giving birth. They could have sex for pleasure,” said Pan Suiming of Renmin University, one of the country’s leading experts on sex.

Li Yinhe, another researcher, said: “In the past, women were not allowed to like sex – sex was only for giving birth to children, or serving men. Now they can enjoy sex.”

When the magazine Popular Cinema dared to print a romantic clinch in 1979, it sparked a national controversy. The publication of the kiss – a still from a Cinderella movie starring Richard Chamberlain – was “decadent, capitalist, an act meant to poison our youths”, complained an irate local propaganda official. But thousands more picked up their pens to support the magazine.

But puckering up lost its subversive edge – even if the average age for a first kiss remained at 23 just a few years ago. These days premarital sex is very common and has spread to rural areas too.

Yet even now, most assume that sexual relationships end in marriage. Half the men Pan surveyed in 2007 reported only one sexual partner – and even younger and more experienced men have double standards, as a group of female students at the festival testify.

“There’s a long way to go. People do think a woman is a slut [if she has had multiple partners],” said Emily Mai.

“We have a right to chose premarital sex,” added her friend Yee Bai. “It’s freedom. We can’t stand to have only ‘pure, spiritual’ love.”

Sun Zhongxin of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh says the sexual revolution has benefited different sexes and sexualities to different degrees, and that both men and women may face new pressures, feeling inadequate when faced with a single and sometimes more westernised standard of sexiness.

Tens of millions of men will not find wives or long-term partners at all, because of China’s “missing” women: illegal sex-selective abortions have caused the gender ratio at birth to rise from the natural rate of 106 boys per 100 girls to 118 boys.

Many more men are migrant workers who may see their spouses once a year at best. “They can use sexual toys to let their desire out. It’s better than going to have sex with prostitutes,” said the event’s deputy director, Zhu Jianming.

But as Sun pointed out, the sex industry is not just the fruit of changing attitudes; it has been aggressive in pushing “liberalisation”.

The results can be alarming. One stall in Guangzhou is advertising a sex doll designed to look like a very young girl.

But he adds that he too worries that some people “have been influenced by western ideas about sex, are out of control and indulge themselves sexually”. He insisted the show was designed to encourage sexual morality and positive relationships, not just sexual knowledge.

Though the festival clearly caters primarily to straight men, there are several older couples browsing arm in arm. A husband and wife stop to listen attentively as a salesman demonstrates the different groans emitted by a selection of fake vaginas.

“In the past, when two people dated, they even had to keep their distance on the street,” said 25-year-old Li Bo, sheepishly clasping the sex toy he had just won in a prize draw. “Of course we wouldn’t want to go back to the old times.”

-guardian.co.uk

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Try this tourist ‘must do’ or must take photos of for the adventurous.

In suitable fengshui spots (probably where nturally phallic or clitorial looking stone formations form), install a series of silver, gold and finally, precious stone clad dildos and ‘fleshlights’ on a series of bollards EXHIBITING ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISTICS of the local regional culture. These will be in private but open areas for tourist use and photo taking.

Each couple or person gets to use the private or secluded space for 10 minutes, and reseervations or bookings must be made in advance (24 hours means only 164 people a day may use a single area . . . so there should be more than 1 area per scenic spot to service probably millions . . . ). To be fair, these spots should charge no more than minimum wage multiplied by the material used . . . silver x1, gold x2, and finally, precious stone x3, x4 for diamond (4 times minimum wage for diamond, though the entire series might be wanted and hence the money is made back (not so soon, a few hundred diamonds on a dildo will cost MILLIONS but since ths state has FIAT for sure that will be worth it . . . ) . . . now THATS making the most of sexuality in tourism in a most contemporary and complementary manner! Retired sex workers could be the administrators and watchmen here, and perhaps sexual themed souvenirs or ORGANIC tonic specicaltiesmade by the locals, or sex manuals, could be sold as well.

Scheduling for weekday mornings could be reserved for non-sexual use and child friendly time (children will not be harmed seeing or posing with bejewelled sex toys . . . in crowds to boot. These will eventually be fertility preserving attractions in a spiritual sense, and would be quite a draw as a form of ’emnatory’ spirito-medical tourism as well. An informal temple to fertility in fact, especially when manned or staffed by ex-sex workers WITH state pensions.

“There’s a long way to go. People do think a woman is a slut [if she has had multiple partners],” said Emily Mai. “We have a right to chose premarital sex,” added her friend Yee Bai. “It’s freedom. We can’t stand to have only ‘pure, spiritual’ love.”

Not a slut for the status unaware or status uncaring, or the downwardly mobile in need of cash. Those involved in religious work would have herbal concoctions to steady their desires meanwhile and not indulge at all even at a distance (this differentiates the false spiritulist and the sex obsessed ones posing as spiritual – indulging in spiritual sex is NOT spiritual) . . .

The lower classes and middle classes probably will not be affected and will indeed look for prostitutes (lower classes) or escorts (middle classes). The upper classes who are expected to be discreet to save face for race and society would be blackballed for certain if they do not engage themselves to formal mistresses, or use escorts that are too popular/undiscerning (i.e. do not stick to a certain group of clients at limited numbers to keep things classy – i.e. escorts that do not sleep with just anyone – who incidentally should not be raised above/be allowed to climb over the heads of the honest working class professionals etc..) or with tongues that are too loose.

Which is also the reason for so much obsession with erotica by these quasi-apex/literati classes without wealth – pure ‘spiritual love’ from authors to the readers will be the cleanest form of titillation possible to indulge in, even multiple ‘spiritual’ partners notwithstanding apex classes, or a harem of wives to indulge themselves by.

ARTICLE 13

Y.U. Mad … ‘Cause I Bought a Palace – Music Mogul Birdman spent $14.5 mil in cash money for a Miami mansion the size of a Four Seasons.

FUN HOUSE HISTORY: The mansion belonged to music producer Scott Storch until it was taken away from him in foreclosure 2 years ago. It was snatched up by the inventor of Rockstar energy drinks for $6.75 mil … and then flipped to Birdman for a huge profit.

Oh the rich. We hate them.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Thats so characteristically white bread of so many African American stars who succeeded.

You’d think they’d decorate in a manner congruous with African cultures or that at least gives a strongly black-american accent (not exactly ghetto or hoodie yet carefully ‘uncolonial’ and ‘unsafari’ as well).

This is too European. Look at the ‘Black House’ jokes for a skewed sense of ‘African-American’ style. I’m not African but some African homes FEEL African, excepting the railings, this is just ‘white and European (not even American) bling’.

ARTICLE 13

Exclusive Coffee Has Unsavory Source – Elephant Dung in Thailand

Anantara Resorts, one of the world’s most expensive resort chains, has debuted some of the world’s costliest coffee at its Maldives properties. Just one thing though: The coffee beans are harvested from elephant dung.

The coffee is also offered at Anantara’s Golden Triangle property in Thailand.

The coffee beans, called Black Ivory and priced at $1,100 per kilogram, are digested by an elephant before you drink it.

There are only 50 kilograms, or about 110 pounds, currently for sale.

According to the resort, Black Ivory coffee beans are “naturally refined” by Thai elephants. Research indicates that during digestion, the enzymes of the elephant break down coffee protein, according to the resort. Protein is one of the factors responsible for bitterness in coffee: less protein, less bitterness.

The coffee is ground by hand and brewed table side in a four-minute process. The fragrance is said to be floral and chocolate and the taste “milk chocolate, nutty, earthy with hints of spice and red berries.”

Thai Arabica beans are picked from an altitude of 1500 meters (about 5000 feet) and fed to the elephants. “Once deposited by the elephants, the individual beans are handpicked by mahouts (elephant trainer and care giver) and their wives and sun dried.”

Refinement of the coffee takes place at the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, an elephant conservation program. According to the resort, 8 percent of sales will fund an elephant veterinarian specialist to provide free care to the animals. Additional funds will be used to provide medicine and a new laboratory.

Black Ivory isn’t the first coffee in the world to come out of animal dung. Civet coffee, priced at several hundred dollars per pound, is harvested from the civet cats’ of Southeast Asia’s excrement.

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This is not to be used evidence of ‘insanity’ . . . the below are ideas for extreme experimental foodies, or a horror/vampire book that begins thus . . .

‘Nothing is better than fresh blood of pre-pubescent children . . . ‘ (looks like the vampire kids have been chewing on themselves again or was that the tailor . . . what say you Bellisa? Or is that Isabelle?

Perhaps that would beat J.K. Rowling in the creativity and shock factor department. The book will be called . . . “50 Shades of Red” ! Yea or Nay? Should this be written? Parasite Rowling is such a vacant casualty of ideas . . . Meanwhile we ponder another text . . .

Heres an idea for for products for the ‘Scat’ bunch (Hmm . . . Scatman?!? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scatman%27s_World) Heres some ideas, more rare and MONSTROUS flavours for the extreme foodie . . . Gargarensis would approve and no need to wear a meat dress either!

Foodies in religion eh? Dull eat-beasts more like, even if Vegetarian . . . Now this particular posting will probably this blog’s most monstrous! Counter articles/responses welcome! Commentary fight time, even at such severe handicap!

Councils warned Cameron’s plan would encourage unsightly development
Last year councils rejected outright 22,000 of 200,000 applications received
LGA fears that without such scrutiny these failed plans would now go ahead

Town hall chiefs last night vowed to kill off David Cameron’s plan to allow large extensions in back gardens.

They warned his free-for-all would encourage unsightly development and spark tension between neighbours.

In a huge blow to the Coalition’s flagship housing policy, the Local Government Association said councils would not implement the plans.
Blow: Town hall chiefs vowed to kill off David Cameron’s plan to allow large extensions in back gardens

Blow: Town hall chiefs vowed to kill off David Cameron’s plan to allow large extensions in back gardens

Homeowners can currently build a 10ft extension at a terraced property – and 13ft at a detached house – without planning consent.

Mr Cameron wants these limits doubled to 20ft and 26ft for a three-year period.

The move is needed to boost the economy, the Prime Minister says. But without the co-operation of town hall chiefs the policy is unlikely to be implemented.

Last year councils rejected outright only 22,000 of the 200,000 applications they received.

And the LGA, which represents more than 370 councils, fears that without such scrutiny these failed plans would now go ahead.

Recession has turned us into a nation of Rigsbys: Number of homeowners who rent a room to a lodger doubles in a year
Spectacular castle that inspired The Great Gatsby and played host to Jonas and Weiner weddings facing foreclosure

‘This policy potentially gives the green light to unsightly and out-of-place development without delivering a big enough boost to the construction industry to justify the potential damage,’ said the association’s Mike Jones.

‘The planning process works to ensure development is suitable for a local area and doesn’t unduly impact neighbours. Loosening rules around extensions would eliminate this vital mediation process in a large number of cases. The 22,000 applications which are rejected each year are knocked back for good reasons and it would be totally wrong if extensions which were previously rejected due to objections from neighbours or because they were judged to blight the neighbourhood could now sneak back in unimpeded.’

Tory-run councils in Lincolnshire and in Richmond, South-West London, have already said they will not cooperate with the new policy. Lincolnshire said a ‘rash of extensions’ could increase the risk of flooding in the low-lying county.
Additions: Homeowners can currently build a 10ft extension at a terraced property – and 13ft at a detached house – without planning consent

At their party conference, the Liberal Democrat rank and file also voted against the proposals.

And a YouGov poll commissioned by the Royal Institute of British Architects revealed 54 per cent believe the shake-up would lower the quality of neighbourhood design.

‘This policy potentially gives the green light to unsightly and out-of-place development without delivering a big enough boost to the construction industry to justify the potential damage’

Mike Jones,
Local Government Association

The LGA’s intervention sets the stage for a clash between town hall chiefs and Eric Pickles. The Communities Secretary has warned that homeowners could sue councils that refuse to follow the new guidance on extensions. Ministers have said however that it will be up to each council as to whether to cooperate.

The LGA’s warning is also a challenge to Mr Cameron, who repeated calls for growth-friendly planning changes in his speech to the Conservative conference in Birmingham this week.

Mr Jones countered: ‘We agree with the Government that stimulating the construction industry is essential to economic recovery but this proposal is not the answer. We need to tackle the housing crisis and that means freeing up lending so first-time buyers can secure mortgages and developers can borrow to build.
Extensions: A YouGov poll commissioned by the Royal Institute of British Architects revealed 54 per cent believe the shake-up would lower the quality of neighbourhood design

Extensions: A YouGov poll commissioned by the Royal Institute of British Architects revealed 54 per cent believe the shake-up would lower the quality of neighbourhood design

‘The Government should also lift tight restrictions on local authority borrowing so councils and housing associations can raise money to invest in new homes.’

Planning minister Nick Boles, who is a Lincolnshire MP, hit back, saying: ‘The planning system needs to strike a balance between the rights of the homeowner and their neighbours.

‘The planning system needs to strike a balance between the rights of the homeowner and their neighbours’

Nick Boles, Planning minister

‘Our proposals will make it easier for thousands of hard-working families to undertake home improvements to cater for a growing family. It will also help generate new business for local construction companies and small traders.’

When the plans emerged, Ruth Dombey, the Lib Dem leader of Sutton council in South London, said: ‘These proposals are a recipe for disaster. They have not been properly thought through.

‘If this is allowed to happen it will set neighbour against neighbour and split communities for years. On top of the resentment and loss of quality of life, some people’s houses will also plummet in value if they’ve got no light or a noisy factory is within a few metres of their front door.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

10-13 feet? I’d say all the way to the edge of the lot (which is why there are high walls sometimes) and then overhangs out into at least the middle of the road especially for roads where heavy vehicles or tall vehicles are not allowed! Factories? How did this article steer from freedom to build on one’s property to **factories** (no outlandish smells, no outlandish noises and probably people won’t care, why should the council Jobsworths who don’t even live there care)?

. . . and developers can borrow to build. . . .

NO. England is overpopulated as is, and no more increases in population should be allowed if England is to remain self sufficient or not become a Hong Kong style hi-rise pigeon coop. Developers had better hang up their heavy construction equipment to prevent future losses from lack (actually there is nowhere left to build) of demand and consider getting into home extensions work and such.

Unless England is to be a ‘gray and unpleasant’ land (Foggy gaslight London era, drowning in rising sewage anyone? Throw in a few Jack the Rippers, absinth drinking detectives and grape eating hookers for some excitement . . . ), overbuilt that is, without green lungs, like a Englishstani slum that an Indian film maker can go to to film Slumdog Millionaire : Englishstan . . . The time of developers and developer/construction stocks is over, excepting companies able to build massive Arcology type structures and a dystopian ‘Bladerunner’ hyperdense hive that eventually turns into the ‘Matrix’, which still downs most of the smaller ‘construction’ companies without their own development landbanks.

ARTICLE 15

Lakota Sioux Nation Leaves America by Stephen Lendman – 10-1-12

America betrayed them and all Native Peoples. Throughout US history and earlier, genocide was policy.

Historian Ward Churchill explained four centuries of systematic slaughter. It went on from 1492 – 1892. It continues today against Native culture.

Churchill estimated around 100 million Native People throughout the Americas “hacked apart with axes and swords, burned alive and trampled under horses, hunted as game and fed to dogs, shot, beaten, stabbed, scalped for bounty, hanged on meathooks and thrown over the sides of ships at sea, worked to death as slave laborers, intentionally starved and frozen to death during a multitude of forced marches and internments, and, in an unknown number of instances, deliberately infected with epidemic diseases.”

Destruction of their culture continues in new forms. “The American holocaust was and remains unparalleled, in terms of its scope, ferocity, and continuance over time.”

Survivors represent a tiny fraction of original numbers. They also symbolize a longstanding US tradition of butchery and viciousness.

After centuries of systematic slaughter, Census Bureau data estimated around a quarter-million US survivors. Those living struggle to get by.

Raphael Lemkin defined genocide as:

“the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group” that corresponds to other terms like “tyrannicide, homicide, infanticide, etc.” (It) does not necessarily mean the destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings….It is intended….to signify a coordinated plan (to destroy) the essential foundations of the life of national groups” with the intent to eradicate or substantially weaken or harm them.”

The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Convention defines it legally as:

“any (acts like those above) committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the national, ethnical, racial or religious group (by) killing (its) members; causing (them) serious bodily or mental harm; (or) deliberately inflicting (on them) conditions” that may destroy them in whole or in part.

Destroying peoples’ cultures, preventing them from practicing their religion, speaking their language, and/or passing on their traditions to new generations are genocidal acts.

Constitutional provisions don’t let government abuse people or deny them their rights. They don’t authorize genocide, either within or outside the country. They don’t permit theft and occupation of their lands or any others.

Nonetheless, binding principles are spurned. America, Israel, and rogue NATO partners violate them with impunity. Crimes of war, against humanity, and genocide are official policy. Millions of corpses bear testimony.

On December 17, 2007, a delegation of Lakota people went to Washington. They declared independence. They called it “the latest step in the longest running legal battle” in history.

It’s not a cessation, they said. It’s a lawful “unilateral withdrawal” from treaty obligations permitted under the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

At the time, American Indian Movement (AIM) leader Russell Means said:

“We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us.”

“We offer citizenship to anyone provided they renounce their US citizenship.”

“United States colonial rule is at an end.”

Signed documents were delivered to the State Department. Sovereignty was declared. The Republic of Lakota was established. It’s based on the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. It created the Great Lakota (Sioux) Nation. It states in part:

“The territory of the Sioux or Dahcotah Nation, commencing the mouth of the White Earth River, on the Missouri River; thence in a southwesterly direction to the forks of the Platte River; thence up the north fork of the Platte River to a point known as the Red Buts, or where the road leaves the river; thence along the range of mountains known as the Black Hills, to the head-waters of Heart River; thence down Heart River to its mouth; and thence down the Missouri River to the place of beginning.”

It gave Lakota people portions of northern Nebraska, half of South Dakota, one-fourth of North Dakota, one-fifth of Montana, and another 20% of Wyoming.

Unilateral withdrawal from all treaties and agreements became policy. America never honored its own. More on that below.

Earlier events led to the 2007 declaration. In 1974, 5,000 International Indian Treaty Council delegates, representing 97 North and South American Indigenous People, signed a Declaration of Continuing Independence.

It was a “Manifesto representing the wisdom of thousands of people, the Ancestors, and the Great Mystery supports the rights of Indigenous Nations to live free and to take whatever actions are necessary for sovereignty.”

Numerous elders approved it. They represented ancestors born to live free. They gave delegates two mandates:

(1) Gain international recognition. In September 2007, the UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights affirmed it.

(2) “We must always remember that we were once a free People. If we don’t, we shall cease to be Lakota.”

The right to return to their original free and independent status was asserted. On December 17, 2007, they declared it formally.

In United States v. Sioux Nation (1980), the Supreme Court upheld a $105 million award to eight Sioux tribes. It was compensation for lost land. It was lawlessly taken.

The Court, however, denied what Sioux people most wanted – their land back. As a result, they refused the money. They reasserted their sovereign rights.

Thirty-two years of compound interest makes the 1980 award worth $400 million today. It’s a tiny fraction of what Sioux people lost. They demand and deserve what’s rightfully theirs. America’s highest court has no sovereignty over their rights. Neither does political Washington.

Lakota people say US law supports them. America systematically broke treaties and stole their land. It’s theirs and they want it back. The Republic of Lakota claims it.

On September 29, 2012 Means reiterated what he and others declared in December 2007, saying:

“We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five state area that encompasses our country are free to join us.”

He cited longstanding problems and grievances. They include land theft, resource plunder, poverty, unemployment, repression, and overall human depravation. All of it remains out of sight and mind.

The Republic of Lakota described ongoing genocide as follows:

(1) Mortality

Life expectancy for Lakota men is less than 44 years. It’s the lowest of all sovereign countries. It’s the highest in America. Infant mortality is threefold higher than the US average. Diseases are a major problem. “Cancer is now at epidemic proportions.”

Teenage suicide is150% higher than America’s average. One-fourth of Lakota children are fostered or adopted by non-Native people. Doing so destroys their identity and culture. Ward Churchill calls it killing the Indian, saving the man.

(2) Disease

Tuberculosis is 800% higher than America’s average. Cervical cancer is fivefold higher. Diabetes is eight times the national average. The Federal Commodity Food Program provides high-sugar foods. They contribute to poor health.

(3) Poverty

Annual median income is $2,600 – $3,500. Poverty affects 97% of Lakotans. Many families can’t afford essentials most people take for granted. In winter, many use ovens for heat. Simple luxuries are unheard of. Life is hard, merciless, punishing, and unrelenting.

(4) Unemployment

It’s 80% or higher. Government corruption, cronyism, and indifference destroy normal living opportunities.

(5) Housing

In winter, elderly people die from hypothermia. They freeze to death for lack of heat. One-third of homes lack clean water and sewage. About 40% have no electricity. About 60% of families have no telephone.

Another 60% of homes are infected with potentially fatal black molds. On average, 17 people reside in each household. Many have two to three rooms. Some homes built for six to eight people have up to 30 in them.

The average fluent Lakotan speaker is 65 years old. In another generation or less, perhaps few or none will remain. Lakotan language skills aren’t allowed or taught in US government schools. Nor is much of anything about native history and culture. America wants it destroyed and forgotten.

Lakotan struggle began with the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. They call it “fantasy” US history. France sold America 530 million Native land acres for $15 million. Lakotans owned part of it. They and other Native people weren’t consulted.

America’s winning the West involved invading, encroaching, stealing, and occupying their lands. That’s how imperialism works. It’s the same everywhere.

Throughout the 19th century (and earlier), Washington engaged in military, legal, and political battles against Native Peoples. Their rights were contemptuously denied. They were displaced and exterminated. That’s how today’s America was created.

The 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie was systematically violated. So were provisions of all other treaties. From 1866 – 1868, Washington let the Bozeman trail go through the “Heart of the Lakota Nation.”

It was a short cut to Montana’s gold fields. Military forts were built on stolen land along its route. Doing so violated 1851 treaty provisions. Battles ensued. Washington negotiated peace. The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty followed. Native People thought they won. Victory was pyrrhic and illusory.

The Supreme Court’s 1883 ex parte Crow Dog decision made no difference. The Court recognized Lakotah freedom and independence. It ruled that tribes held exclusive jurisdiction over their internal affairs. It didn’t matter.

The transcontinental railroad facilitated development, land and resource theft.

In 1885, Congress passed the Major Crimes Act. It extended US jurisdiction into Lakota territory. The same year, the last of the great buffalo herds were exterminated. At one time, they numbered 60 million. Native People relied on them for food.

In 1887, Congress passed the General Allotment Act (the Dawes Act). It ended communal ownership of reservation lands. It distributed 160-acre “allotments” to individual Indians. Tribes lost millions of acres. Wealthy ranchers exploit them today.

In 1888, Congress began prohibiting Indian Spiritual and Prayer Ceremonies. It was part of destroying Native culture. In 1891, a Commissioner of Indian Affairs was authorized. It was to assure Native People obeyed white man’s laws.

Many more abuses followed. In Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock (1903), the Supreme Court extralegally recognized near absolute plenary congressional power over Indian affairs.

It let US authorities steal tribal lands and resources freely. They did so on the pretext of fulfilling federal responsibilities.

Doing so abrogated fundamental indigenous rights unilaterally. The ruling was used to violate hundreds of treaties. Like other Native Peoples, Lakotans were grievously harmed.

Their sacred Black Hills were stolen. So were valued resources on them. Lakotans want back what’s rightfully theirs. Their ancestors thought the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty granted them victory. They were wrong.

Yet in 1904, even after Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, some believed the Treaty was “the only instance in the history of the United States where the government has gone to war and afterwards negotiated a peace conceding everything demanded by the enemy and exacting nothing in return.”

Until the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act, Native People got what no one had the right to deny them in the first place. In fact, rights afforded them nominally never existed in fact.

The entire history of Native People in America reflects horrific struggles lost. From 1492 to today, they experienced promises made and broken. Disenfranchized people remain. Most are bereft of hope.

On reservations or assimilated, they’re out of sight and mind. Once they lived peacefully on their own land. White settlers changed things. Western civilization destroyed their way of life. There’s nothing civilized about it.

They’re either ignored, mocked, or demonized in films and society. They’re called drunks, beasts, primitives, and savages. America always was a white supremacist society.

Rich powerful elites run it. Native People and most others don’t matter. They’re systematically used and abused. They’re not served. It’s the American way.

Thats ALL non-European, non-English sovereign nations which have become so-called USA and so-called Canada. Does the UN know this fact? What the colonial Europeans and English did was barbaric and needs proper reparations instead of mere ‘Indian Reservations’. Shall USA and Canada be run by a Supreme Council of Tribal Chieftains from all territories on this map? All existing European and English people who did not benefit from or cause murder and slavery should be allowed to remain as citizens, those identified as having benefited should be repatriated to their home nations. A 600 year long holocaust occured here that history cannot bury and that has not been corrected or apologized for yet. (Caption by @AgreeToDisagree, Map from http://www.manataka.org)

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”

The true language of ‘America’ is Native Ameri-Indian, NOT English. To be fair to the Native Ameri-Indians, perhaps all of the ‘5 Civilised Tribes’ should have a Governor each and a UN Representative of USA should be Red Native Ameri-Indian as well. A black president says much about USA today, not go even further and have an Ameri-Indian President neext (not those 1/8th blood types but as pure as possible).

Meanwhile Sabah and Sarawak should demand 100% disbursement rights and 100% equality for Orang Asli and access to ALL Special Privileges, to be implemented immediately or secede and get their own UN seat instead. Whats the point of not having a UN seat and not even being able to disburse your own states’ wealth AND being made into second class citizens without :

Whats so great about east Malaysia staying in Malaysia? The worst among Muslims force Islam on the Orang Asli who are vulnerable, and Malaysia’s APARTHEID Bumiputra system has parasited on the Orang Asli Chieftain-RULERS using Islam to a degree as a weapon of control via threat of violence to these simple Tuak drinking, boar bucaneering, Keris inventing, spirit-lamp using peoples, taken away their land via illegal laws that the UN would never approve or even sue as war criminals over (the Bar Council is asleeep as usual does not care at all), invited loggers that denuded the forests and planted dull and eco-diversity destroying oil palm plantations . . . whats the point for Sabah and Sarawak to stay in malaysia unless the above listed are granted immediately?

Any Orang Asli worth their pride as warriors (those Orang Asli made mincemeat of the oppresso-Christians before in Kalimantan didn’t they? Now Christian DAP is back again with more neo-colonial b.s.. . . . make mincemeat of the Apartheid of Bumiputra) will prefer to have a seat at the UN as a PM instead of as a DAP or BN stooge that only gets 5% or 15% (as CM of Penang Lim Guan Eng ‘generously’ – actually INSULTINGLY – offered 15% as being ‘better than BN’s 5%’) of THEIR OWN WEALTH?

Try the response to this article : Grievances of the Temiar tribe must be addressed – reposted by @AgreeToDisagree – Feb 23, 2012 @ 8:01- https://malaysiandemocracy.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/3719/ that belong to the nomadic and eco-friendly Orang Asli instead of plantations! Free yourselves Orang Asli! Give BN an ultimatum to grant the above or begin filing for secession at the UN. Chieftains must be intelligent and civilised men not stupid uneducated ‘natives’ who cannot even keep their religion and culture or lands intact! Get your sovereign seat at the UN if BN still wants to keep control, or if Pakatan refuses to change their entitlement mentality regards equality of citizenship and return of stolen lands!

Orang Asli Chieftains! Never accept this heartbreaking and heartrending treatment of your people’s anymore! Demand equality and show idiots like CM Lim Guan Eng or Minister Chua Soi Lek or MIC leading the Malaysian Chinese and Indian community cowards and colluders who dare not ask for equality how to be indepdnent equals in their own country by filing lawsuit at the UN for the above listed 3 items as well as all the above response’s listed demands! Scottish PM would-be leading the Scottish Independence movement, Alex Salmond should have a talk to the Orang Asli Chieftains about independence and how much a sovereign seat at the UN would be better than this ‘trash’ deal offered by Pakatan rakyat’s Guan Eng (who doesn’t even dare try secure end of apartheid for the Chinese on the Malaysian Peninsular) or Barisan’s apartheid and Islamic proselytisation and stealing of lands (especially ancestral grave sites which the Muslims seem to fear and try very hard to target).

Don’t dare say that non-Muslims, some here for tens of generations despite not being ethnic Malay do not deserve 1st class citizenships! Especially so the pureblood Orang Asli who didn’t intermarry with the Middle Eastern or ASEAN peoples, are the TRUE Nusantaran Animist MALAYS, not Muslims who were converted from Orang Asli and took Arabic names. No citizen should not be punished and disenfranchised or have any privileges denied them simply for having a different religion! Religion is disenfranchisement! Especially when the Constitution guarantees equality, the UN Article 1 which Malaysia is a signatory of, and the Social Contract states that Special Privileges were to only last 15 years before review and removal. How could 20,000 or more year old settlements be displaced then made into second class citizens by Muslim converts who too are Orang Asli, albeit now in mixed marriage (and without original malay names) to Arab traders who arrived mostly in the 15th Century? End the apartheid! The Orang Asli are your own REAL ORIGINAL Malaysians who have even managed to preserve their original Nusantaran faith! The original faith of Nusantaran Animism! Spiritual Colonialism is not something the Malays expected, but to deny the Orang Asli equality is just unprincipled. Finally Islam states that all citizens are to be treated equally regardless of faith.

Who’s a Muslim? Find your roots those who care and understand . . . that one can be a successful ethnic-Malay who is not a Muslim that deserves equal treatment, not persecution for applying Article 18 of the UNHRC. Know those roots without oppressing all other minorities with Islam. Find your real names as well. Before the Arabs came to Malaysia, what were real Malay names? Look to Indonesia and note the real Indonesian names as opposed to Arabic names. Spiritual Colonialisation no less!

Mitt Romney on the campaign trail:?With the Republican presidential nomination secured, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney steps up his criticism of President Obama.

June 13 (Bloomberg) — Mitt Romney pledged to replace the U.S. health-care overhaul with a plan relying on private markets to provide “access to good health care” for every American, as he revived attacks on President Barack Obama’s signature achievement that the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to rule on.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee told small- business owners in Orlando, Florida, that he would implement policies, including tax breaks, aimed at helping the private market care for the uninsured and those with preexisting medical conditions.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Obama a non-plutocrat saves money AND YET offers no state oversight Capitalist style (meaning could be very badly run by a profit and ‘cheapness’ oriented and uncaring medical company), Romney sounds ‘commie state controlled’ (AND also a plutocrat?) but will have state oversight (can you say Orwell? Or will this be an exercise selective amnesia and ‘deniability’ no different than if Obama style private run . . . ). Uncontrolled free enterprise from a non-plutocrat vs. Orwellian from a plutocrat. Hegelian dialectic (http://dont-tread-on.me/?tag=hegelian-dialectic)?

Maybe ex-Governer Jesse Ventura has something there, why must each side offer something fundamentally flawed? A 3rd force needs to offer the best of both worlds. The 30% of most profitable companies in the country should directly deduct 50% of after tax profits and offer state run (public accountable open account) medical institutions AND free medical degrees. This way WEALTH DISTRIBUTION can occur. Health is not sympathy or a waste, and a good patriotic company should not begrudge FREE HEALTHCARE from the same citizens feeding their bottomless pit bank accounts and cronies and proxies (who might well be one’s neighbours), even if the profits come from the rest of the world much less locally in the USA where the economy has been failing since Clinton left (maybe Clinton window washed the books’ better?).

Healthcare and education are an obligation of the wealthy corporate sectors and even plutocrats. So how can people be worth 100s of millions (Romney is worth 250 million) while USA rots or has lack of facilities for injured veterans? Living in luxury or sequestering so much wealth while those who fight for the country are abandoned says ALOT, ‘Romney’.

ARTICLE 2

£5million lottery winner ‘claimed housing benefit and income support for 20 months after windfall’

Cashing in: Putman was charged with cashing around £15,000 in income support and housing benefit from the Department of Work and Pensions

When Edward Putman scooped nearly £5million on the Lottery, he asked to have no publicity.

That anonymity was ripped away yesterday when he appeared in court accused of fraudulently claiming £15,000 in benefits after his big win.

The 46-year-old, who lives in a large detached house with a fleet of cars outside, is said to have continued applying for income support and housing benefit nearly two years after receiving his Lotto cheque.

Although he was not convicted yesterday, his barrister said his client would admit two charges of benefit fraud at the next hearing.

The delay came after the Crown Prosecution Service was unable to confirm exactly how much the millionaire owes.

Putman attempted to continue living out of the public eye after yesterday’s hearing when he sprinted from St Albans Magistrates’ Court trying to hide his face with his mobile phone.

He refused to comment at the £600,000 home in the upmarket village of Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, which he shares with his long-term partner. It is understood Putman was unemployed when he won £4,525,058 on September 26, 2009.

Sources said an investigation began after council officers became suspicious when he tried to buy his former one-bed council flat in Hemel Hempstead with cash.

Enquiries found Putman appeared to have continued claiming income support and housing benefit between September 2009 and May last year.

Yesterday, his brother, Raymond, who lives in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, said: ‘He was absolutely skint and then suddenly he had millions.

‘He won’t be happy people know about his win because he’s a private person. I don’t even know how much he won. He didn’t even tell me about the court case. How crazy.

‘I don’t know if he has been managing the money but he had a BMW, then a Range Rover. There are other cars and motorcycles.

‘He’s also bought friends and family cars. The other week he bought seven Suzuki Swifts to give to people. That’s just him. I hope he doesn’t waste it all.’

Putman’s former partner Gail, who took his name during their time together, said he had hidden the Lotto win from her.
Jailed: In April 2011, Lesley Brogan was jailed for 21 months after she claimed more than £100,000 for her ¿disabled¿ husband, despite the fact that they had won £120,000 on the lottery

Jailed: In April 2011, Lesley Brogan was jailed for 21 months after she claimed more than £100,000 for her ‘disabled’ husband, despite the fact that they had won £120,000 on the lottery

Miss Putman, who had a son by him before they split several years ago, said: ‘I never knew he’d won the Lottery – he never told me. He couldn’t even pay me £5 a month maintenance.

‘If he won this money and he’s done this fraud, what does that tell you about him?’

Miss Putman, who lives in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, added that she believed her former partner had fathered another son with a different woman before starting his current long-term relationship.

Neighbours of Putman’s also revealed how he claimed to be a property developer.

Windfall: Putman’s £600,000 house in the village of Kings Langley, Hertfordshire

One added: ‘I’ve been made redundant three times and when I claimed income support I had to sign on. I had to show them I’d been trying to get a job and going for interviews. How did he claim it for 20 months without them making him get a job?’

Last night it appeared Putman was trying to sell his home. A message posted anonymously on buildinglanduk.co.uk said his house, garden and even his mobile home were up for sale.

It said: ‘I’m not sure how to explain what I have without someone looking but I have a four-bed detached house with a garden which has a mobile home on.’

During yesterday’s five-minute hearing, George Brooker, chairman of the bench, said the case would be adjourned for sentencing until July 3.

The Department for Work and Pensions said: ‘We cannot comment until sentencing.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Shows the NHS system is not as modern or as well networked as the taxpeyers are charged for.

ARTICLE 3

The crisis in Syria is deepening and the Assad regime is fighting for its life. The rhythm of the revolution is familiar: The state cracks down on demonstrators throughout the week, inevitably committing some new outrage on its citizens; rage builds and explodes on Friday after prayers; repeat as necessary.

The state’s crackdown seems more futile with each passing week. The Alawite grip on power in Syria seems to be slipping away and the events could foreshadow a similar path in Lebanon.

Imagine a future where Lebanon’s Shia have managed to conquer Lebanon with brute force. The situation seems hardly possible, but Syria faced a similar situation forty years ago. Syria’s Alawites, who comprise only 15% of the population, managed to subdue the nation under Hafez Assad in 1970.

It’s not impossible to imagine something similar in Lebanon. One thousand reasons could be given why this would never happen, but surely the same could be said of Syria all those years ago. While success is unlikely, an attempt is possible.

The Shia are Lebanon’s largest minority, and as such they wield significant political power. Beyond that, Hizballah is considered to be the most powerful fighting force in the country. They have strongholds in the south and in the southern suburbs of Beirut, but do not always feel at home in the cosmopolitan capital.

Lebanon’s Shia for years occupied the bottom of the socio-economic spectrum. Long ago they realized that the only way they would get anything in Lebanon is if they took it with force, as the merchant-class Christians and Sunnis in Beirut would never give up anything willingly. This is the genesis of the Amal Movement in the 1970’s, and later Hizballah.

While it’s impossible to know whether Hizballah will ever gain a monopoly on power in Lebanon, perhaps we can learn something about what their trajectory might look like by considering the Alawite experience in Syria. Consider the following excerpt from a report from the International Crisis Group, “The Syrian People’s Slow-motion Revolution”:

Yet, the sectarian survival instinct upon which the regime relies could backfire. The most die-hard within the security apparatus might well be prepared to fight till the bitter end. But the majority will find it hard to keep this up. After enough of this mindless violence, this same sectarian survival instinct could push them the other way.

After centuries of discrimination and persecution at the hands of the Sunni majority, Alawites and other religious minorities concluded that their villages within relatively inaccessible mountainous areas offered the only genuine sanctuary.

They are unlikely to believe their safety is ensured in the capital (where they feel like transient guests), by the Assad regime (which they view as a temporary, historical anomaly), or through state institutions (which they do not trust). When they begin to feel that the end is near, Alawites might not fight to the last man. They might well return to the mountains. They might well go home.

Partly due to Hizballah’s helps, Lebanon’s Shia have come a long way over the past 40 years. Today the sect wields real power, both politically and militarily. The can bring down the government, as they did this year, and they can take over the capital, which they did in 2008.

But something doesn’t seem right. Hizballah’s actions are becoming more aggressive towards the state, especially since the indictments in the Hariri Tribunal were made known. This week, Hassan Nasrallah announced that the state would never be able to arrest members of Hizballah.

Nasrallah has been vocal in his support for Syria, which badly exposes him as a hypocrite who is grossly out of touch with the Arab tide of history. This was after proclaiming support for protestors in Tunisia and Egypt.

He has also maintained steadfast support for Iran, which also continues to oppress its citizens. Because of these patently opportunistic and self-serving stances, Hizballah’s credibility on the Arab street has to be plummeting, particularly amongst Sunni Arabs.

How long can this keep up? Can Hizballah count on the unconditional support of the common Shia? Is there a limit to what they will accept? Hizballah’s support for authoritarian regimes, coupled with its ultra-aggressive posturing at home, will only lead to growing isolation for the group, and the Shia by extension.

The common enemy in the Middle East used to be the United States, which had supported the likes of Mubarak and Ben Ali for decades. But in 2011, Arabs realized that instead of getting the United States to abandon its support for the region’s dictators, they had to remove the dictators themselves. And they’re doing right now.

Suddenly, corrupt and oppressive regimes became the enemy (whether they supported the US or not) and Hizballah found itself on the wrong side of history. With the region’s political calculus undergoing such significant changes, it follows that Hizballah would alter its strategies accordingly. But they didn’t and in the process revealed themselves to be little more than an outpost of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, beholden to the Ayatollah instead of their constituents.

The question then becomes whether we will see any daylight developing between Hizballah and the “average Shia”. It’s not clear how unconditional support is for Hizballah amongst the Shia, but there are signs of cracks developing. The downfall of the group’s financial chief, penetration by Israeli spies, support for brutal regimes in Iran and Syria, isolation from Sunnis, and isolation from the world in general… both the group and the sect are under tremendous pressure.

The whole situation seems to be coming to a head. There are just too many highly-volatile moving pieces. It’s likely that Hizballah can count on its sectarian constituents if push comes to shove; the Shia won’t have any choice. The shoves will be coming from the Sunnis and the Shia will likely close ranks and band together in the event of a civil conflict.

But it is unclear how far rank and file Shia will go in support of the Party of God. Perhaps a look at the fate of Syria’s Alawites over the last 40 years can give some clues.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Potentially the Saudi Sunnites are attempting to take control of all factions by toppling ‘somewhat secular and moderate (though dictator run) governments’ via ‘Arab Springs’ but things aren’t exactly goin the way they want . . . Alawites and Sufis or even Druzes are very much more suitable for Caliphate, simply by virtue of fact that Sunnites and Shiites have BOTH involved themselves in persecutions and killings of fellow Muslims from other sects far much more than the above 3.

As for Padishah Emperors, England and the West burnt their last bridge to the Middle East when Dodi Fayyed died along with Diana. Were the Royals more cautious, (no offense to Charles), an alternate reality where Diana lived and married Dodi had children, and the English monarchy somehow was succeeded by the progeny of the above couple instead of/with Charles AND William AND Harry out of the picture (not necessarily dead but just out), Persia if revived could yet be controlled from England. But too bad eh? No proxy Padishas for England even as King of England and Emperor of India was the title of the English sovereign! And Iran is very pissed with England with not an Ayatollah on the ‘West’s side! Good on Charles likely taking over the throne though, continuity is important though Camilla being Queen should no longer be an issue internally at least, to those who did not love Princess Di that much at any rate.

Island government hopes to send message to Argentina that they want to remain British
Vote comes 30 years after 27,000 troops repelled Argentinian invaders
Vote set to take place in the first half of next year

The Falkland Islands are to hold a referendum on their ‘political status’ – hoping to bring an end to the continuing dispute with Argentina over the islands’ sovereignty, their government said today.

The announcement comes as Falklanders prepare to mark the 30th anniversary of the liberation of the islands.

Three decades after Margaret Thatcher sent 27,000 troops and more than 100 ships to repel the Argentinian invaders, Buenos Aires continues to set its sights on claiming the territory it calls Las Malvinas.
Disputed territory: Falkland Islanders are to be given a vote to allow them to say whether they want to be considered as British or Argentinian

Disputed territory: Falkland Islanders are to be given a vote to allow them to say whether they want to be considered as British or Argentinian

But the Falkland Islands government said it hopes a referendum will send a firm message to Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner that islanders want to remain British.

Reacting to the announcement, Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne said this is a ‘truly significant moment’.

The Falkland Islands, a rocky archipelago in the South Atlantic, are 7,780 miles from the UK and 1,140 miles from Buenos Aires.

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They have been under British control since 1833 – apart from the brief but bitter 74 days of occupation in 1982.

Gavin Short, chairman of the Legislative Assembly, said: ‘We are holding this referendum not because we have any doubts about who we are and what future we want, but to show the world just how certain we are about it.

‘I have no doubt that the people of the Falklands wish for the islands to remain a self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom.
The vote comes 30 years after Margaret Thatcher sent 27,000 troops and more than 100 ships to repel Argentinian invaders

The vote comes 30 years after Margaret Thatcher sent 27,000 troops and more than 100 ships to repel Argentinian invaders

‘We certainly have no desire to be ruled by the government in Buenos Aires, a fact that is immediately obvious to anyone who has visited the islands and heard our views.

‘But we are aware that not everybody is able to come to these beautiful islands and to see this reality for themselves.

‘And the Argentine government deploys misleading rhetoric that wrongly implies that we have no strong views or even that we are being held hostage by the UK military. This is simply absurd.’

The Falkland Islands has a population of around 3,000 people, with just over half on the electoral roll and expected to take part in the vote.

The referendum will be organised by the Falkland Islands government and will take place in the first half of next year.

Mr Short said: ‘We have thought carefully about how to convey a strong message to the outside world that expresses the views of the Falklands people in a clear, democratic and incontestable way.

‘So we have decided, with the full support of the British Government, to hold a referendum on the Falkland Islands to eliminate any possible doubt about our wishes.’

The Falklands government said it intends to invite international observers to verify the outcome of the referendum.

It added that exact timings, the specific wording of the question and other details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Argentina’s Ms de Kirchner has been heating up the debate over the islands as key milestones in the 1982 conflict have passed.

Last week she announced that Buenos Aires would be launching criminal proceedings against UK oil firms that are operating off the Falkland’s coastline, saying they were operating illegally.

Britain has accused the country of implementing a number of economic blockades on the small, isolated islands and of acting in a ‘domineering way’.

But British officials are adamant that there will be no change in the UK’s sovereignty of the islands unless and until the Falklanders themselves wish it.

Mr Browne, who arrived in the Falkland Islands yesterday, welcomed the announcement of a referendum.
Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne said the referendum is a ‘truly significant moment’

Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne said the referendum is a ‘truly significant moment’

‘Only the Falkland Islands people can determine how they wish to be governed, so I very much support this initiative by the Falkland Islands government,’ he said.

‘Indeed, I believe this referendum is a truly significant moment.

‘It will give the Falkland Islands people the opportunity to send a clear message – not just to Argentina, but to the whole of the international community – that the islanders, and they alone, are masters of their fate.’

He added that the British Government would respect whatever the outcome of the referendum might be.
Islanders hope the referendum will send a clear message to Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner that they want to remain British

Islanders hope the referendum will send a clear message to Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner that they want to remain British

‘I call on all governments who prize democracy and human rights to do likewise,’ Mr Browne added.

‘Whilst it is for the islanders to choose, let me be clear: the British Government greatly values the links between the UK and the Falkland Islands.

‘We believe these should continue and deepen, long into the future.

‘And if this proves to be the will of the Falkland Islands people, then we in the UK will not just respect it, but will continue actively to defend this act of self-determination from those who seek to challenge it.’

The Government called for the referendum just two days before Ms de Kirchner is due to attend a UN committee in New York on de-colonisation.

During the meeting she is expected to put the Argentinian position on the Falkland Islands.

She will also be addressed by a group of young Falkland Islanders, most of whom were not born when the Falklands War took place in 1982.

Speaking from London yesterday, they said they often get drowned out by the arguments over sovereignty taking place between the UK and Argentina.

This will be the first referendum held on the islands, but in a poll in the mid-1980s, 94.5% of those who took part supported staying British.

Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell, secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Falkland Islands, said it was an ‘extremely important decision’ that would determine ‘once and for all’ the wishes of the islands’ inhabitants.

He said he expected a ‘very similar result’ to that in a referendum held by Gibraltar in 2002, in which the idea of Britain sharing sovereignty with Spain was rejected by 98.5% of residents.

‘It will make it clear once and for all what the Falklands Islands want for their own destiny,’ he said.

‘I hope that the Argentinian government will respect the democratic wishes of the islanders.’

Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain would ‘respect and defend’ the outcome of the referendum.

‘I have always said that it is up to the Falkland Islanders themselves to choose whether they want to be British and that the world should listen to their views,’ he said.

‘Thirty years ago they made clear that they wanted to stay British. That’s why British forces bravely liberated the island from Argentine invaders.

‘Now the Argentine government wants to put that choice in doubt again, by shouting down the Islanders’ ability to speak for themselves and punishing them for exercising their own free choice.

‘That’s why it’s absolutely right that the Islanders have today set out how they intend to make their voices heard once more. And Britain will be resolute in supporting their choice.

‘Next year’s referendum will determine beyond doubt the views of the people of the Falklands. Britain will respect and defend their choice.

‘We look to all UN members to live up to their responsibilities under the UN charter and accept the Islanders’ decision about how they want to live.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Won’t work. EEZ and continental shelf makes Malvinas belong to Argentine. Also if Malvinas residents want to change aspects of the law, they can very well elect someone who will speak for them. Where sovereignty is concerned, no go. Check with the UN, those islands were forcibly colonized. Just because alot of ethnically foreign citizens congregate in a particular district does npt gove them rights to seccession. In which case, Chinese citizens and their larger Chinatowns worldwide might as well vote for democratic rights in a ‘decision’ to be part of China and not the host nation! Prime Minister Wenjiabao might as well say China would ‘respect and defend’ the outcome of the referendum of those Chinatowns as well. This is deliberate twisting the intent of the UN Charter. Such skewed views and reporting are illegal and actionable for sure.

BUENOS AIRES, June 8 (Reuters) – Argentine banks have seen a third of their U.S. dollar deposits withdrawn since November as savers chase greenbacks in response to stiffening foreign exchange restrictions, local banking sources said on Friday.

Depositors withdrew a total of about $100 million per day over the last month in a safe-haven bid fueled by uncertainty over policies that might be adopted as pressure grows to keep U.S. currency in the country.

The chase for dollars is motivated by fear that the government may further toughen its clamp down on access to the U.S. currency as high inflation and lack of faith in government policy erode the local peso.

“Deposits keep going down,” said one foreign exchange broker who asked not to be named. “There is a disparity among banks, but in total it’s about $80 million to $120 million per day.”

U.S. dollar deposits of Argentine banks fell 11.2 percent in the preceding three weeks to $11.5 billion, according to central bank data released on Friday. The run on the greenback has waxed and waned since November, after President Cristina Fernandez won a second term on promises of deepening the state’s role in the economy.

From May 11 until Friday, data compiled by Reuters from private banks showed $1.9 billion in U.S. currency had been withdrawn, or about 15 percent of all greenbacks deposited in the country.

Feisty populist leader Fernandez was re-elected in October vowing to “deepen the model” of the interventionist policies associated with her predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, who is also her late husband.

Since then she has limited imports, imposed capital controls and seized a majority stake in top energy company YPF.

A spokesman for the central bank said on Friday that the rate of dollar withdrawal from Argentina’s financial system shows signs of slowing.

“We have seen a tendency toward fewer withdrawals, to about $90 million (per day) over the last week from $120 million the week before,” the spokesman said a day after the bank lifted daily reserve requirements on dollar deposits to help banks respond to steady drum beat of withdrawals.

DITCHING HER DOLLARS

The near-impossibility of buying dollars at the official rate is driving some savers and investors to pay a hefty premium in the black market.

Many are taking what dollars they can get their hands on and stashing them under the mattress or in safety deposit boxes, fearing moves by the government to forcibly “de-dollarize” the economy. Officials have strongly denied any such plan.

The president’s battle to slow capital flight and fatten the central bank reserves needed to pay the public debt has prompted even tighter controls in recent weeks, making it almost impossible to buy dollars at the official rate. The effects have been felt throughout the South American country’s economy.

For example. Argentines, who normally pay for new homes with stacks of dollar bills, have been struggling to get their hands on U.S. currency since Fernandez started imposing stringent controls on dollar buying late last year. [ ID :nL1E8H6EZ8]

She wants Argentines to end their love affair with the greenback and start saving in pesos despite inflation clocked by private economists at about 25 percent per year.

Fernandez set an example on Wednesday by vowing to swap her only dollar-denominated savings account for a fixed-term deposit in pesos.

But savers in crisis-prone Argentina are notoriously jittery. Memories of tight limits on bank withdrawals and a sharp currency devaluation remain fresh a decade after the country’s massive sovereign debt default.

“There is a lot of fear, considering everything that has happened before,” another foreign exchange broker said. “Confronted by risk, whatever kind of doubt, depositors pull their dollars out of the bank and wait to see what happens. (Writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Leslie Adler)

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Demogoguery and bully reporting. Hot money is not real money. Fiat money is not real money. The numbers flowing out of USA are mostly monetized debt held by ‘rich’ people who can NEVER claim or materialise that wealth from the 99% that ‘owes’ the system of usury and money that is not even real. Banks are a joke. And this is worse when a supposedly respectable outfit like Reuters cannot understand that fiat and banks are NOT the real economy of REAL GOODS and REAL SERVICES, rather than a plutocrat CONMAN posing as wealthy with the number of zeros in that bank account.

Prices are overinflated, wealth is overstated and based upon empty populations ‘owing’ money or getting indebted in ‘student loans’ while being unable to access land banks that belong to them as a collective of citizens who are part of the country that politicians keep from owning the same land via laws. The 99%ters had better start voting politicians that understand and will act on the above (and quit after 2 terms instead of creating medieval satrapies). That sort of money is both unaccountable and unenforceable, plutocrats are living on the goodwill of the ntion’s citizens and collusion by foreign governments. Argentina need not worry about outflows, there were no inflows to begin with. Dollars especially are worth nothing, the debt of USA is enough to lower the value to 0.000,000,001% or even less (USA has 10 trillion or more in debt, so what is the true value of the currency? Nothing more than what one can count in cents.)

ARTICLE 6

Earth nearing ‘tipping point,’ study warns By Stephanie Pappas
Earth is rapidly headed toward a catastrophic breakdown if humans don’t get their act together, according to an international group of scientists.

Writing Wednesday (June 6) in the journal Nature, the researchers warn that the world is headed toward a tipping point marked by extinctions and unpredictable changes on a scale not seen since the glaciers retreated 12,000 years ago.

“There is a very high possibility that by the end of the century, the Earth is going to be a very different place,” study researcher Anthony Barnosky told LiveScience. Barnosky, a professor of integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley, joined a group of 17 other scientists to warn that this new planet might not be a pleasant place to live.

“You can envision these state changes as a fast period of adjustment where we get pushed through the eye of the needle,” Barnosky said. “As we’re going through the eye of the needle, that’s when we see political strife, economic strife, war and famine.” [ Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth ]

The danger of tipping
Barnosky and his colleagues reviewed research on climate change, ecology and Earth’s tipping points that break the camel’s back, so to speak. At certain thresholds, putting more pressure on the environment leads to a point of no return, Barnosky said. Suddenly, the planet responds in unpredictable ways, triggering major global transitions.

The most recent example of one of these transitions is the end of the last glacial period. Within not much more than 3,000 years, the Earth went from being 30 percent covered in ice to its present, nearly ice-free condition. Most extinctions and ecological changes (goodbye, woolly mammoths) occurred in just 1,600 years. Earth’s biodiversity still has not recovered to what it was.

Today, Barnosky said, humans are causing changes even faster than the natural ones that pushed back the glaciers — and the changes are bigger. Driven by a 35 percent increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since the start of the Industrial Revolution, global temperatures are rising faster than they did back then, Barnosky said.

Likewise, humans have completely transformed 43 percent of Earth’s land surface for cities and agriculture, compared with the 30 percent land surface transition that occurred at the end of the last glacial period. Meanwhile, the human population has exploded, putting ever more pressure on existing resources. [ 7 Billion Population Milestones ]

“Every change we look at that we have accomplished in the past couple of centuries is actually more than what preceded one of these major state changes in the past,” Barnosky said.

Backing away from the ledge
The results are difficult to predict, because tipping points, by their definition, take the planet into uncharted territory. Based on past transitions, Barnosky and his colleagues predict a major loss of species (during the end of the last glacial period, half of the large-bodied mammal species in the world disappeared), as well as changes in the makeup of species in various communities on the local level. Meanwhile, humans may well be knotting our own noose as we burn through Earth’s resources.

Pulling back from the ledge will require international cooperation, Barnosky said. Under business-as-usual conditions, humankind will be using 50 percent of the land surface on the planet by 2025. It seems unavoidable that the human population will reach 9 billion by 2050, so we’ll have to become more efficient to sustain ourselves, he said. That means more efficient energy use and energy production, a greater focus on renewable resources, and a need to save species and habitat today for future generations.

“My bottom line is that I want the world in 50 to 100 years to be at least as good as it is now for my children and their children, and I think most people would say the same,” Barnosky said. “We’re at a crossroads where if we choose to do nothing we really do face these tipping points and a less-good future for our immediate descendents.”

President Obama’s top campaign strategist said Sunday that the country needs to “accelerate” job creation in the private sector — by hiring more teachers, police and firefighters.

David Axelrod made the comment as he continued to perform damage control for the president, who said Friday during a press conference that the private sector’s “doing fine.” But Axelrod drew rapid-fire ridicule from conservatives, after he called for more public-sector hiring to address private-sector economic issues.

“The private sector, we need to accelerate job creation in the private sector,” Axelrod told CNN’s “State of the Union,” before adding: “One of the ways that we can do that is putting teachers and firefighters and police back to work because those are good middle-class jobs.”

Told that teachers and firefighters are part of the public sector, Axelrod continued to defend his statement. “But that will help accelerate the recovery,” Axelrod said.

Axelrod also pointed to a proposed small business tax credit and refinancing program as ways to help the private sector.

The political adviser appeared on two Sunday shows in large part to answer questions about the president’s comments Friday, when Obama had to publicly backpedal after initially diagnosing the private sector as “fine.”

Axelrod seemed to acknowledge that the private sector still needs help, but argued that it’s doing far better than the public sector and continued to press for the president’s goal of more teachers and police officers.

Axelrod said the private sector grew by 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, while the public sector lost jobs. He said the president’s critics are “more eager to have a debate over an out-of-context clause in his remarks than the substance of what he said.”

Republican strategists were closely watching Axelrod’s interviews. The Republican National Committee on Twitter accused him of trying to avoid answering questions about Obama’s comment, calling the CNN interview “awkward.”

“When even your own chief strategist can’t defend your comments, it indicates that your assessment of the economy might be wrong,” the Romney campaign said in an email.

Meanwhile, the Romney camp put out a blistering new web ad, which features people talking about their struggles in the current economic climate — and then plays the clip of Obama saying the private sector is “doing fine” three times.

On ABC’s “This Week,” though, Axelrod accused Romney of responding to the comment by pushing for fewer teachers, police and firefighters.

“I would suggest he’s living on a different planet if he thinks that’s a prescription for a stronger economy,” he said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Hegelian dialectic at work? Romney has the choice right. Less public funded people. As of now On the other hand Romney is just not the ‘everyman’ or Joe Public President being worth 500 times a 401K. Obama may have closer to grass roots level of wealth, but this ‘hire more’ thing is ridiculous as talking about Mars NASA missions when the Middle East wars are not even finished AND with a debt overhang that could well collapse the fiat currency system worldwide. Try the below for why Obama is not thinking correctly here (1 employee’s salary and benefits could easily mean 10 people on welfare . . . so what will the other 9 people do? ) :

The weapons and the boots may be much different now than they were when America declared that we could do what we did because of “Manifest Destiny,” But the crimes we are committing today are the same ones that we used to conquer this continent so long ago. We slaughtered over five thousand native-nations, destroyed their languages and their religions while we began polluting their waters and their lands. At that time we claimed the “right” of our self-imposed “Manifest Destiny” that was used to justify the entire desecration of “The New World” (North, Central & South America). This arrogant slander against all the other peoples in the world today has become a global cancer that is killing its global-host with every passing day.

This is what we are attempting to initiate in Africa, the Middle-East and the Far East as well as the Pacific Rim nation-states. The US accounts for only 6% of the global population and yet together with our criminal-ally Zionist-Occupied Israel, we seek to claim all the rest of the world for our élite owners while we classify the vast global population as un-people. We crushed the native populations here and turned the survivors into slaves from the 15th through the twentieth century and never looked back. What this nation has done in the name of Manifest Destiny is beyond criminal, because we raped and looted this land and its people: Now we are seeking to do the same to the whole world, as Israel has been doing to the Palestinians for the last 63 years; which has turned every nation into an OCCUPIED place where having your own thoughts becomes a criminal offence punishable by torture, life in prison or death, at the slightest whim of whichever sock-puppet happens to sit in an office in Washington D.C.

This is why Americans must now SURRENDER everything we once thought we owned, along with all our unalienable rights that came with birth. Today the New World Order will decide for all of us just who can live and who must die! Take a look at the new Obama Plan for “Healthcare-in-America’ as envisioned by the same forces that want to own you, your children and your dreams. A ten minute video (1)

To accomplish this, the elite’s have tried to crush the freedoms from tyranny what were signed into law in 1297 that was and still is called the Magna Carta. This document became the bedrock upon which this Republic was founded. After the Robber-Barons were chained up and the corporations were limited after they had publicly wrecked the American-economy; virtually every effort going forward was designed to reverse that loss of prestige along with their determination to crush every freedom that might ever threaten their criminal way of business and life, in what they saw as their rightful place at the very top of global society. What we’re seeing now is their final move against the US Constitution, after having spent decades smashing up the Magna Carta. Apparently this is ‘just fine’ with all the simple-minded who are seemingly accepting this without so much as a whisper of complaint.
Some have already begun to call for the imposition of Martial Law to protect themselves from a public that is becoming increasingly intolerant of these global-criminals that are stealing more and more of everything from our jobs to our health and all the way down to our every thought.

It’s fascinating that during all this time from the Magna Carta forward the world has only had one real Renaissance (a rebirth of the arts and letters that counterbalances the sciences and politics). While in that same period of time the world has suffered through hundreds if not thousands of Inquisitions wherein millions died to appease the greed and dreams-of-deluded power, that have continued to plague the so-called civilized world. Yet that spark of the fire that illuminates real life has not yet been extinguished. And as long as there are those of us who are willing to literally risk everything-just to live free-then no matter how much the Dark Side spends they can never defeat the global-human-race!

The world has suffered through so many religious and political fantasies for so long that most can’t imagine a world without these monsters: But such a world could exist if people simply recognized how much we all have in common beyond the artificial divisions that the darkness tries to use to defeat us (race, religion, ethnicity, sexual identifications, habits and appetites) ­ because in the end what we share are the same dreams, the same blood that runs through all races and creeds, and the same desires for a world with better tomorrows on every horizon.

What we have gotten instead from those ancient Robber-barons and their latest generations has been going backwards since before the First World War There’s a reason that there were three of these global Wars planned. It’s all about money and power and manipulation of everyone else that is more interested in living than in the minutia that is constantly used to steal virtually everything from those that have earned it all, and yet who remain screwed to the hilt by the criminal-elements that are no longer blocked by any laws or any expectations from the people they are determined to dominate without mercy or cessation. Three World Wars were needed to reposition the global-financial-criminality into that place where there would be NO CHOICE for their intended vicitms except to UNCONDITIONALLY SURRENDER or perish!

For those who have no interest in lengthy history, you need only go as far back as Reagan (32 years ago) to grasp exactly what has happened to this nation. Under that un-American bastard we lost almost all of what had made this country what it was (for a very brief time)-as we tried to convert our colonial-Empire into that beacon of hope which our Constitution seemed to promise to every American. The problem was and still is that the only way that could have happened was IF we paid attention to our government and to what it was doing when the spotlights were turned off. But instead of paying attention we bought into all the distractions and the toys and thereby sealed our own future with a graveyard that marks the end of the promise and the beginnings of an ABSOLUTE-SURRENDER that is predicated upon the self-fulfilling prophecy that says: RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!

We have suffered many reverses of late, and now we are undergoing an inundation of new “laws” that are without legitimacy because they were constructed outside the strictures of the Constitution and as such they must be moot upon arrival. The US Constitution is the Supreme Law of this land; not the Supreme Court, not the Congress and most especially NOT the president ­ because this is a Constitutional Republic, not a Monarchy, not a dictatorship and not even the Police-State it has become. None of these deviations from the constitution are legal and all it takes to erase these artificial constructs that have been IMPOSED upon us by pre-emptive-political strikes against the very heart of this nation by unilaterally directed interests hell-bent on stealing all the wealth of this land and its people, before murdering more than four-fifths of the population. This is exactly what we did to Central and South America, which is why they largely did not participate in WWI or WWII ­ except as escape havens for the combatants in those wars. Simply put we could not trust those people with arms and ammunition, because we had already done to them what is planned for us today. And with arms they might have decided to rebel, so they were excused from most of those first two wars.

When Gadaffi made overtures to Venezuela’s Chavez, to join forces (Africa and South America) in order to resist the Rothschilds DEBTOR Banks as well as their virtual total control over their own countries, Gadaffi’s fate was sealed, and apparently Chavez now has suddenly contracted terminal cancer?

The reason is that Colonial America was only using Central and South America as cadaver’s while we drained their life blood, all the resources we could transfer to our criminal corporations under color of hemispheric cooperation-but in truth we had already done that to everyone else in this hemisphere, with some form of what we seek now to do to the USA. This colonial-disease of bloody-Empires has been around far too long and must be ended globally; unless we want to join in making their victory over the whole planet a total success for them and a near total defeat for the rest of us.

Ronnie Reagan was famous for asking ­ “Are you better off today than you were before?” It was his way of saying that he could bring a better world to everyone if he were elected. He promised smaller government but he increased the size of government by 300%. He promised continued prosperity (the USat the time was the world’s leading Creditor nation). By the time he left office the US had become the world’s leading debtor-nation, making the US in fact the worst risk for investment on the planet, in just eight years.

Ronnie opened the door to what became the tidal-wave of illegal immigration, to benefit his rich supporters who didn’t want to pay a living wage to keep on making billions. Reagan also introduced American trained Death-Squads, to keep order in South and Central America and he and Bush’s daddy set up the Arms-for-Hostages swap in Iran that ended as soon as he was ‘selected’. His administration also oversaw the Drug War going deep into criminality with CIA flights that carried weapons to the “freedom fighter/terrorists”) throughout the region in exchange for drugs that he established and it continued under Clinton. Of course Ronnie was an imbecile and just another sock puppet but he should have been impeached. Just as LBJ, Nixon, Clinton and Poppy, along with George Junior. All of these TRAITORS should have each been impeached for TREASON. But because Americans were too pre-occupied with raking in the profits from all these illegal wars, nothing happened to any of our national criminal leaders. That’s why we are where we are now-because we FAILED to demand that these creatures be held to account for everything that has continued since LBJ tried to allow the USS Liberty to be sunk for Israel.

Now we have watched al these crimes morph into this:

“Apparently having goons grope the public nearly every step of the way as they walk under the watchful eyes of full-spectrum surveillance just isn’t good enough.

The new Bureau of Counterterrorism was announced on January 4th by Obama’s State Department as an agency with,
The mission . . . to lead the [State] Department in the U.S. Government’s effort to counter terrorism abroad and to secure the United States against foreign terrorist threats. The bureau will lead in supporting U.S.counterterrorism diplomacy and seek to strengthen homeland security, countering violent extremism, and build the capacity of partner nations to deal effectively with terrorism. (Source)
Probably the least comforting part of this announcement is the use of the term “violent extremism.” It is under this very flexible definition which allows the agents of tyranny to assign it to anyone, at any time, thus making them susceptible to the full arsenal of the War on Terror, which we now know includes the indefinite torture and murder of American citizens on American soil.” (2)

Out of that nightmare that was designed to hide the Nuclear Blackmail that Israel is holding over the heads of every so-called American president. (This is the basis for our so-called SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT with that shitty little place that is still not even a nation.
“Many of you are no doubt scratching your heads, wondering why every elected president turns back on his campaign promises the second the inauguration is complete. Believe me, the corruption of American elected officials is not that deep. You cannot elect several presidents in sequence, and have them all perfectly screw the country, ESPECIALLY the way Bush and Obama did; they had their reason, and it is called NUCLEAR BLACKMAIL.

What if they never wanted to renig (at least not so completely)? What about Obama? And what about the other countries, which also screwed their people the same way? Why is it seemingly a universal truth, that all governments around the world are simultaneously going against the will of their people, in favor of the Jewish bankers and Israel?

I believe I have figured it out, and I have documented it.

I am going to tell you the how and why of Israel’s dirty little secret – how they got their nuclear offensive capability in place, why they decided on the chosen method, and how they ended up using it.” (3)

If we ever want another chance to have-a-life, then we must begin to push back the cops and to charge every officer that puts hands or batons on people without just cause-because every time that happens it is ASSAULT, and it is a crime being committed every day whenever any thug in uniform starts the physical trouble within any confrontation.

Rich pensioners should be stripped of their free bus passes and winter fuel allowances, Nick Clegg has said.

The Deputy Prime Minister has gone nose-to-nose with David Cameron over the issue as yet another huge split has appeared at the heart of the Coalition, it was claimed today.

Mr Clegg has admitted privately he would happily see all but the very poor lose their handouts so the Department for Work and Pensions can cut its £5 billion elderly benefits budget.

But the Prime Minister is adamant that he will not take away perks like free prescriptions and TV licences, even for millionaire pensioners, because it is one of his key election promises.
Nick Clegg
DC

Loggerheads: Nick Clegg has admitted he would allow benefit cuts for rich pensioners but David Cameron will try to block this to protect an election pledge

The Prime Minister is already at loggerheads with Tory Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan-Smith over the matter and is also nervous about the impact of the so called ‘Granny Tax’, which is set to reduce their weekly pension payments.

And as the Coalition has been widely criticised for being slow to make decisions, Nick Clegg’s views have revealed another cabinet split.

‘This is all about whether the richest should be getting those benefits’ a Lib Dem spokesman told MailOnline today.
Enlarge Rightfully yours: Pension Credit is designed to help those on smaller incomes and reward saving

Changes: All but the most hard-up pensioners could lose some of their benefits

‘If you’re faced with helping the wealthiest pensioners or helping the vulnerable across Britain then his priority is the vulnerable people across the country who need the help most,’ he added.

David Cameron said during the live TV election debates in 2010 that he would not cut any of the key benefits for pensioners.

But he has come under pressure ever since because some critics believe too many pensioners get them even though they have enough money to get by.

Lib Dem stalwart Lord Oakeshott has called on winter fuel payments to be taxed after he worked out that almost 700 peers get £200 to £300 annually to heat their homes.

‘Nick Clegg had to eat humble pie on tuition fees, so David Cameron can at least swallow a slice now for fairness,’ he said said.

But Downing Street and the Department for Work and Pensions have today backed David Cameron.

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions told MailOnline: ‘This is speculation and were are continuing to protect key support for pensioners including winter fuel payments, which make an important contribution to the fuel costs of pensioners.’

A No 10 source added to the Guardian: ‘The coalition agreement is absolutely clear and it reflects the promises the Prime Minister made before the election.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Cameron = One track mind, inflexible posing as pledge worthy. Clegg = thinking ‘cents’. England = near bankruptcy, do the math and pick the man who makes SENSE. Those millionaires don’t need those passes, the country does need their cents, and every single cent counts.

‘The coalition agreement is absolutely clear and it reflects the promises the Prime Minister made before the election.’ . . . but does not take into account the state of the English economy.

The DDG-1000 Zumwalt, the U.S. Navy’s next-generation destroyer, which has been funded to be built at Bath Iron Works in Maine and at Northrop Grumman’s shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. The super-stealthy warship that could underpin the U.S. navy’s China strategy will be able to sneak up on coastlines virtually undetected and pound targets with electromagnetic “railguns” right out of a sci-fi movie. (AP Photo/Bath Iron Works, File)

SINGAPORE (AP) — A super-stealthy warship that could underpin the U.S. navy’s China strategy will be able to sneak up on coastlines virtually undetected and pound targets with electromagnetic “railguns” right out of a sci-fi movie.

But at more than $3 billion a pop, critics say the new DDG-1000 destroyer sucks away funds that could be better used to bolster a thinly stretched conventional fleet. One outspoken admiral in China has scoffed that all it would take to sink the high-tech American ship is an armada of explosive-laden fishing boats.

With the first of the new ships set to be delivered in 2014, the stealth destroyer is being heavily promoted by the Pentagon as the most advanced destroyer in history — a silver bullet of stealth. It has been called a perfect fit for what Washington now considers the most strategically important region in the world — Asia and the Pacific.

Though it could come in handy elsewhere, like in the Gulf region, its ability to carry out missions both on the high seas and in shallows closer to shore is especially important in Asia because of the region’s many island nations and China’s long Pacific coast.

“With its stealth, incredibly capable sonar system, strike capability and lower manning requirements — this is our future,” Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, said in April after visiting the shipyard in Maine where they are being built.

On a visit to a major regional security conference in Singapore that ended Sunday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the Navy will be deploying 60 percent of its fleet worldwide to the Pacific by 2020, and though he didn’t cite the stealth destroyers he said new high-tech ships will be a big part of its shift.

The DDG-1000 and other stealth destroyers of the Zumwalt class feature a wave-piercing hull that leaves almost no wake, electric drive propulsion and advanced sonar and missiles. They are longer and heavier than existing destroyers — but will have half the crew because of automated systems and appear to be little more than a small fishing boat on enemy radar.

Down the road, the ship is to be equipped with an electromagnetic railgun, which uses a magnetic field and electric current to fire a projectile at several times the speed of sound.

But cost overruns and technical delays have left many defense experts wondering if the whole endeavor was too focused on futuristic technologies for its own good.

They point to the problem-ridden F-22 stealth jet fighter, which was hailed as the most advanced fighter ever built but was cut short because of prohibitive costs. Its successor, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, has swelled up into the most expensive procurement program in Defense Department history.

“Whether the Navy can afford to buy many DDG-1000s must be balanced against the need for over 300 surface ships to fulfill the various missions that confront it,” said Dean Cheng, a China expert with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research institute in Washington. “Buying hyperexpensive ships hurts that ability, but buying ships that can’t do the job, or worse can’t survive in the face of the enemy, is even more irresponsible.”

The Navy says it’s money well spent. The rise of China has been cited as the best reason for keeping the revolutionary ship afloat, although the specifics of where it will be deployed have yet to be announced. Navy officials also say the technologies developed for the ship will inevitably be used in other vessels in the decades ahead.

But the destroyers’ $3.1 billion price tag, which is about twice the cost of the current destroyers and balloons to $7 billion each when research and development is added in, nearly sank it in Congress. Though the Navy originally wanted 32 of them, that was cut to 24, then seven.

Now, just three are in the works.

“Costs spiraled — surprise, surprise — and the program basically fell in on itself,” said Richard Bitzinger, a security expert at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. “The DDG-1000 was a nice idea for a new modernistic surface combatant, but it contained too many unproven, disruptive technologies.”

The U.S. Defense Department is concerned that China is modernizing its navy with a near-term goal of stopping or delaying U.S. intervention in conflicts over disputed territory in the South China Sea or involving Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province.

China is now working on building up a credible aircraft carrier capability and developing missiles and submarines that could deny American ships access to crucial sea lanes.

The U.S. has a big advantage on the high seas, but improvements in China’s navy could make it harder for U.S. ships to fight in shallower waters, called littorals. The stealth destroyers are designed to do both. In the meantime, the Navy will begin deploying smaller Littoral Combat Ships to Singapore later this year.

Officially, China has been quiet on the possible addition of the destroyers to Asian waters.

But Rear Adm. Zhang Zhaozhong, an outspoken commentator affiliated with China’s National Defense University, scoffed at the hype surrounding the ship, saying that despite its high-tech design it could be overwhelmed by a swarm of fishing boats laden with explosives. If enough boats were mobilized some could get through to blow a hole in its hull, he said.

“It would be a goner,” he said recently on state broadcaster CCTV’s military channel.

___

AP writer Christopher Bodeen contributed to this report from Beijing.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

As long as any country does not enter another country’s EEZ or offensively abuse freedom of navigation privileges, there should be no issues. Rear Adm. Zhang Zhaozhong reminds sucintly about ‘unequal warfare’, like the roadside IED, all that tech still has to concede to sheer numbers and strategic use of resources, in this case fishermen’s lives, dinghies and perhaps simple fishing dynamite. IESDKs! Much like so many strongholds in guerilla or even urban warfare involving gangs, this is a seperate sovereign country 1000s of miles away with a different language and culture. What ARE US ships doing in Chinese territory? Maybe China needs a Great Oceanic Wall of China, the other structure visible from the Earth’s orbit!

Investigators say Frantz ran into a man and his nephew with her car around 7 p.m., then zapped the man’s son with a stun gun after he confronted her.

The Morning Call of Allentown (http://bit.ly/LVvlZT ) reports Frantz claimed she didn’t know who had been driving her car.

Frantz is free on bail as she faces charges including aggravated and simple assault. A phone number for her could not immediately be located.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The more unique the car and plate the easier to trace. Instead of making cars more uniform, they should encourage distinctness and uniqueness which can easily be used to identify. Only criminals would want to ‘blend in’ and indeed the most ‘uniform’ types are the most criminal.

ARTICLE 11

Cameron will hand Scots control of 70 per cent of all income tax it raises as a ‘reward’ if they reject independence

Scots have £1,000 more spent on them per head by the Government than English residents
Prime Minister reportedly prepared to raise Scottish control of income tax from 6 per cent to 70 per cent
Cameron unwilling to give up control of corporation tax

David Cameron wants to offer Scotland control of 70 per cent of all money it raises if it votes against independence, it was claimed last night.

The Prime Minister is said to be prepared to hand over more fiscal responsibility to Scotland if its population rejects breaking up the Union.

Scotland currently controls 6 per cent of the revenue it raises, but the Prime Minister wants to raise this to 70 per cent, according to reports in The Spectator magazine.
Suggestion: David Cameron wants to offer Scotland control of 70 per cent of all money it raises if it votes against independence, it was claimed last night
Nationalist: First Minister Alex Salmond has long called for control over corporation tax, saying he wants to make Scotland more competitive

Clash: David Cameron does not want to give up control over corporation tax, a long-term goal of Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, right

His offer could include complete control of income tax.

Scotland already has power to raise or lower the tax by 3 per cent.

Mr Cameron is not expected to hand over control of corporation tax to Scotland, however, for fear that the Nationalist government will use it as a weapon against Westminster.

First Minister Alex Salmond has long called for control over corporation tax, saying he wants to make Scotland more competitive.

A senior Government source told the Mail that if ‘Mr Salmond wants to play with his train set, he will have his chance’.

The offer would also go some way to meeting Mr Salmond’s demands for a two-question referendum, with a ‘fallback’ option of more fiscal powers in the event that Scots vote against separation.

Decision making: The Scottish Parliament could become the heart of an independent Scotland if residents choose to vote in favour of leaving the union

The Westminster government is against having that option on the ballot paper but it could offer more fiscal powers as a consolation prize.

According to official figures, Scots have £1,000 more spent on them per head by the Government than English residents.

The biggest sticking point in the event of a vote in favour of separation would be on who owns North Sea oil revenues.

Nationalists argue that the proceeds – £13billion in 2008/09 – should go to Scotland.

However it is doubtful that the Westminster government would give this up without a challenge.

A referendum on independence is due to be held in 2014.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The gold counting leprechaun in me laughed when I read this. If the Scots go independant, they get 100% control. What does Cameron take the Scots for? 30% short of fools for outast Germans who colonized the Isles? A seat at the UN with 30% MORE control than 70% (absolute control), is more precious than Cameron’s ‘friendship’ on behalf of the Sazxe-Coburg Gothas (Battenburgs). Windsor incidentally, is a purlioned name from the real (probably monetarily subverted) Windsor family :

;since 1917, when George V changed the name of the royal house from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. This decision was primarily taken because Britain and her Empire were at war with Germany and given the British Royal Family’s strong German ancestry, it was felt that its public image could be improved by choosing a more British house name. The new name chosen, Windsor, had absolutely no connection other than as the name of the castle which was and continues to be a royal residence. Windsor Castle has been named that since 1066 when the original Windsor family came to that area in fact. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror.

Windsor, a town that emerged along the banks of the Hawkesbury River became the third settlement in the Colony in 1794 and is the first Macquarie town. Originally called Green Hills Windsor was officially named in 1810 by Governor Macquarie after the town in England. The five Macquarie Towns are Windsor, Richmond, Wilberforce, Pitt Town and Castlereagh.

The origins of the name Windsor were in the 7th century Saxon settlement of Windlesora, where the present day village of Old Windsor is located. The town of Windsor is correctly known as “New Windsor” – the word “new” being used in a strictly relative sense! The REAL Windsors could very well sue for infringement via ‘cybersquatting’ laws, or ‘namesquatting laws’. Does the current head of the clan of Windsor allow the false named Windsors use of the Windsor name? The half-German Saxe Couburg Gotha family the English call their ‘Royals’ could well be required to change their name back to Saxe Couburgt Gotha AND also end up being replaced by the REAL rulers of the area, the proto-Celts! Use of violence to conquer the Isles is wrong even after the Romans! Go back to Germania you Anglo-Saxon outcasts!

ANCIENT DUMNONIA
Before the Romans came to Britain the indigenous Celtic people formed a number of independent nations. The Dumnonii (or Damnonii) occupied Devon, Cornwall, and the western parts of Somerset and Dorset. To the east lay the Durotiges and beyond the Belgae peoples.

These native Britains may have been ethnically related to the Iceni, celtic tribe of the east of England led to heroic defeat by Boudicea (Boudicca), but they did not suffer the same fate. A number of factors helped in this.

The Dumnonii (to use the Roman name) were Iron Age Celts, but hardly savages. They mined tin and other minerals from Dartmoor, the Tamar Valley, and Cornwall, and they traded tin with the Phoenicians and other Mediterranean civilisations long before the Roman invasion. Conflict between the nations of pre-Roman Britain had led to the establishment of numerous hill forts on the boundary – and with the Somerset levels then being still largely tidally effected marshland – Dumnonia’s only boundary to the east was relatively narrow and easy to defend.

Once the Romans invaded Britain they extended their domain north and west, but before they could reach the land of the Dumnonii they had to conquer other tribes. The Durotiges also had hill forts, and the Romans had considerable trouble overcoming these. A major and bloody battle seems to have taken place at Maiden Castle (a major Celtic hill fort) and also at Hod Hill, and on occaision the Romans had to ley siege to the hill forts and starve the inhabitants out (it is reported that the Romans then killed the inhabitants – man, woman and child)

Having accomplished the conquest of Dorset the Romans would have been faced with the defended hillforts of the Dumnonii, who would have had some time to enhance their defences, and who also would no doubt have had their resolve hardened by the fate of their neighbours, and who therefore may also have had their numbers boosted by refugees.

The Romans themselves do not record any victories over the Dumnonii (and as victors they normally did), and there is only one battle recorded (without the Romans noting the outcome). It seems that the Romans must have come to some arrangement with the Dumnonii, for a small garrison was established at Exeter the size of which is not in keeping with a occupying force, and a relatively small number of other garrisons or forts were established. Remains of Roman settlement in Devon and Cornwall are remarkably few, but the fact that some Roman buildings exist, even down to Cornwall (eg at Nanstallon) points to some sort of truce between the Romans and Dumnonii, and the Dumnonii probably continued to have a degree of self-government throughout the Roman occupation.

It is recorded that iron was mined on Exmoor during the Roman period.

The Dumnonii capital was believed to be at Exeter, which the Britons called Keresk (‘Caer Uisc’), and which the Romans named Isca Dumnonioram. In Devon another settlement was Tamaris (according to Ptolemy) which is believed to be in the Plymouth region.

When the Romans left almost 400 years later, the Dumnonii soon regained their independence (by 410 AD). Shortly thereafter there is evidence that trade with the Mediterranean recommenced

However Celtic tribes in eastern Britain felt vulnerable following the Roman withdrawal, and looked across the North Sea for support. Angles, Saxons and Jutes were therefore invited to Britain to help defend it, and ended up settling in Britain and setting up their own nations.

The newcomers gradually extended their territory, and in the sixth century they occupied about half of England. However this advance was then stopped, and it is about this that the legend of Arthur speaks. Whether there ever was an Arthur (and there is evidence of an ‘Artorus’) what is evident that the Celtic tribes did unite to halt the westward expansion of the Angles and Saxons and that expansion was stopped for around a hundred years. Dumnonia has many strong claims to Arthur, but it is difficult to match legend with fact. One thing is certain, if Arthur existed he led the Britons (the word Briton coming from the Brythonic Celts) against the English (the words English and ‘Anglo’ coming from the Germanic tribe the Angles)

The victory of Arthur and the delay in Anglo-Saxon encroachment is important for it is during this time that the Saxons start to adopt christianity (the Britons already were christian although they observed christianity in different ways) and subsequent expansion was probably more tolerant of the indigenous Britons.

It is also at this time that a wave of migration happened, this time by the Dumnonian celts, into Brittany. The reasons for this migration are uncertain, as the Saxon encroachment was still a distant threat to Devon and Cornwall. Nevertheless many people from Dumnonia settled in Brittany, naming regions after their homeland (Cornouaille [Cornwall] in the south west of Brittany, and Domnonee [Devon] in the north east of Brittany) and taking with them the Celtic language

Eventually the Saxon advance westward recommenced and in the sixth century (577AD) the Britons of the westcountry were separated from those of Wales. The Saxons made themselves locals and called the Welsh, the ‘Wealas’ (meaning foreigners!) and the Dumnonians became the ‘West Wealas’ and this is reflected on a number of ancient maps.

United States Air Force Global Hawk un-manned reconnaissance aircraft. (Photo from http://www.af.mil)

With $14 trillion in the hole and a slew of wars seemingly no one wants America to be in, what better way for the United States to spend their money by putting $23 billion into spy planes?

The US will drop billions on defense spending with the purchasing of 55 Global Hawk drone planes over the next few years. Each of the four dozen-plus spy crafts comes at a price tag of $218 million apiece — ten times the price of the largest armed attack drone.

Global Hawk drones are capable of flying twice as high as commercial aircrafts and can spot insurgents up to 100 miles away. Once identified, the robotic crafts that are controlled from 24-hour command stations can then send images to intelligence centers or directly to troops.

The Global Hawk drones will replace the U-2 spy planes that the States currently deploys, which the US has relied on since the dawn of the Cold War. Sending unmanned aircrafts into warzones, while grossly expensive, comes as an attempt to limit fatalities by avoiding putting extra troops into danger. Though relying on on-board navigation, those U-2 flyers have proved effective over the last half-century, recently assisting in operations in Afghanistan

A team of 50 engineers will slave over the construction of the Global Hawk drones in a Palmdale, California warehouse.

The US Air Force will invest $12 billion towards the initiative, with the Navy offering almost as much to have their own versions of the Global Hawks.

And, in case you didn’t hear, lawmakers just spent months trying to figure out how to keep the country from defaulting. The town of Central Falls, Rhode Island (the entire town) is currently in bankruptcy court, and the most populous county in Alabama is expected to join them in the coming weeks.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

USA should just focus on the South Americas and at most Africa and the Far East for trade and stop messing with the Middle East, the fundo Muslims are very angry with USA to the point of ‘unreason’. Perhaps a travel prohibition to the entire area for a few decades will help, only allowing diplomatic staff to continue. This way terrorism will only be local and from within USA. Otherwise at very least, TSA should not target local citizens but be situated in a ‘Quarantine/Clearance Port/Airport’ instead. A single drone could probably revivify a single district. So Red Ocean spending will down USA instead of reinvesting back home.

North Korean soldiers salute during a military parade to mark 100 years since the birth of the country’s founder Kim Il-Sung on April 15.

North Korea proclaimed itself a “nuclear state” in a revised constitution this week
Analyst: Appears to be directed at the U.S. as the rhetoric from Pyongyang rises
Comes as signs are growing of activity at North Korea’s nuclear test site

Seoul (CNN) — North Korea proclaimed itself a “nuclear state” this week following a revision of its constitution earlier this year.

Kim Jong-Il has “transferred the country into an undefeated country with strong political ideology, a nuclear power state, and invincible military power,” according to the updated constitution posted on its portal website Naenara. The website posted the revised constitution on Wednesday, according to Yonhap, the South Korean state affiliated news agency.

North Korea ready to carry out nuclear test at any moment, Seoul says

The statement looks all too familiar.

North Korea previously announced its nuclear capability through its state-run broadcaster and newspapers, “but no expression can be stronger than including it in their constitution,” Professor Choi Jong Kun of Yonsei University told CNN.
North Korea preparing another nuke test?

“It is an announcement of confirmation,” he added, “and it appears to be directed to the U.S. and other relevant nations.”

The communist state carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Pyongyang recently announced that it will press on with its nuclear program in response to what it calls “hostility from the United States.” A defense publication, IHS Janes, also said it detected signs of activities ramping up at North Korea’s nuclear test site, raising speculation Pyongyang may be preparing for a third nuclear test.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

North Korea should know that some forces would exactly want a thermonuclear war in the region of North East Asia. To irradiate the entire region, the ‘West’ will provoke with the hawks in South Korea by holding military exercises, so Kim should know that those nukes are not to be lobbed even at South Korea. Counterproductive sabotage of the Far East by NK’s hand effected by Western goading! Dismembering a S. Korean effigy makes NK look bad btw. How about a nice well reasoned propaganda campaign based on strong logic based around unity of Korean peoples against people who would keep a United Korea (and hence a stable North East Asia) impossible?

The US Navy is readying a $7 billion boat that can launch attacks faster than the speed of sound and is practically invisible to detection. Even with that hefty cost, however, China says it will only take a few fishing boats to blow up the DDG-1000.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

In 10 years China can MASS PRODUCE rockets WITH colony modules on the cheap, and send up to 300 million spare people ‘fully equipped’ to colonize Moon, Mars and outer moons of the planets outside the inner planet area. The ‘West’ is drowning in debt and has no production capacity that does not cost 10-100 times that China or even India has (think TataNano car costing 2500 compared to most Western 25K and above vehicles).

Russia can provide the tech if need be. BUT for a peaceful, equitable and inclusive solution, how about this? Let the current ratio of any usable planet be assigned in the same ‘West-East’ manner equal to the current land ratios controlled? This would mean that smaller countries would also have space on Moon, Mars etc.. To be uncivilised and play ‘locust’ or ‘carp’ though, guess who has the upper hand?

The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo is released from the mothership, WhiteKnight2, over Mojave, California, in 2010. Photograph: Mark Greenberg/AP

The US Federal Aviation Administration has cleared SpaceShipTwo, a commercial six-passenger spacecraft owned by Virgin Galactic, to begin rocket-powered suborbital test flights, the company said on Wednesday.

The six-passenger, two-pilot spacecraft is based on the prototype SpaceShipOne, also built by Scaled, which clinched the $10m Ansari X Prize in 2004 for the first privately funded human spaceflights.

SpaceShipOne made three suborbital hops beyond the atmosphere, each with a solo pilot aboard, ultimately reaching an altitude of nearly 70 miles above Earth. SpaceShipOne is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space museum in Washington.

Virgin Galactic is owned by British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS. Branson hired SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan, who has since retired from Scaled, to create a fleet of spaceships for commercial use. Virgin Galactic has taken deposits from more than 500 people for rides, which cost $200,000.

Participants will experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curve of Earth set against the black sky of space. NASA’s first two manned spaceflights in 1961, by Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and Virgil “Gus” Grissom were suborbital flights.

Like SpaceShipOne, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo will be flown into the air beneath a carrier jet and released. Once separated, the spaceship’s rocket engine will fire to blast it into the sky. SpaceShipTwo has completed 16 free flight tests.

The FAA permit will enable Scaled, now wholly owned by Northrop Grumman, to move on to rocket-powered flights, the first of which is expected toward the end of the year, Virgin Galactic said in a statement.

Company President George Whitesides called the permit an important milestone “that positions the company a major step closer to bringing our customers to space”.

In addition to flying wealthy tourists, Scaled has signed contracts to fly researchers and science experiments.

The experimental permit allows Scaled to fly only its own test pilots, not passengers, Price said.

A date for the start of Virgin Galactic’s commercial spaceflights has not yet been set.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Wake up morons . . . the company should be called ‘Virgin Sub-Orbital’ more accurately. And that ship is an atmospheric sub-orbital airplane, NOT a ‘space’ ship.

If that craft can make way to the moon and back, then the name ‘Virgin Sub-Planetary’ or ‘Virgin-Satellite’ (or if a few Moons ‘Virgin ‘Inter-Satellite’) could be used.
If that craft can make way to any planet in the solar system INCLUDING Pluto and back, only then could the name ‘Virgin Interplanetary’ could be used.
If that craft can make way to any of 51 star systems in this star cluster, INCLUDING and back, only then could the name ‘Virgin Interstellar’ could be used. 10 nearest stars below.

1. Proxima Centauri
The closest star to our our own solar system will not always be closest, but it will be a long time before that happens. Proxima Centauri is the third star in the Alpha Centauri star system, also known as Alpha Centauri C.

Distance: 4.2 LY
Spectral Type: M5.5Vc

2. Rigil Kentaurus
The second closest star is a tie between the sister stars of Proxima Centauri. Alpha Centauri A and B make up the other two stars of the triple star system Alpha Centauri.

4. Wolf 359
Known to many as thelocation of a famous battle on Star Trek the Next generation, Wolf 359 is a red dwarf. It is so small that if it were to replace our sun, an observer on Earth would need a telescope to see it clearly.

Distance: 7.7 LY
Spectral Type: M5.8Vc

5. Lalande 21185
While it is the fifth closest star to our own sun, Lalande 21185 is about three times too faint to be seen with the naked eye.

Distance: 8.26 LY
Spectral Type: M2V

6. Luyten 726-8A and B
Discovered by Willem Jacob Luyten (1899-1994), both Luyten 726-8A 726-8B are red dwarfs and too faint to be seen with the naked eye.

Distance: 8.73 LY
Spectral Type: M5.5 de & M6 Ve

7. Sirius A and B
Sirius, also known as the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the sky. Sirius B, the companion, has received considerable attention itself, since it is the first white dwarf with a spectrum to show a gravitational red shift as predicted by the general theory of relativity.

Distance: 8.6 LY
Spectral Type: A1Vm

8. Ross 154
Ross 154 appears to be a flare star, which means that it can increase its brightness by a factor of 10 or more before reverting to its normal state, a process which takes only a few minutes.

Distance: 9.693 LY
Spectral Type: M3.5

9. Ross 248
While it is now the ninth closest star to our solar system, around the year 38000AD, the red dwarf Ross 248 will take the place of Proxima Centauri as the closest star to us.

Distance: 10.32 LY
Spectral Type: M5.5V

10. Epsilon Eridani
Eridani (tenth closest star to Earth) is the closest star known to have a planet, Epsilon Eridani b. It is the third closest star that is viewable without a telescope.

Distance: 10.5 LY
Spectral Type: K2V

If that craft can make way to any star in this Galaxy, INCLUDING Sagittarius A in the centre of the galaxy and back, only then could the name ‘Virgin Galactic’ could be used.

If that craft can make way to any star in the center of any galaxy *OUTSIDE OF* this Galaxy, and back, only then could the name ‘Virgin Inter-Galactic’ could be used.

Misnomer that cheats the consumer. This is short selling the public with misrepresented naming. Like plastic (Sub-Orbital capable craft) marketed as gold (Inergalactic capable craft). Virgin Airlines Fails! This is not just semantics but a commercial ethics issue. Buyer beware! Misleading the public will get the Intergalactic Consumer’s Commission down in fraudalant advertising!

India’s oil import bill leaped 40 per cent to a record $ 140 billion in 2011-12 as high oil prices shaved off much of the nation’s GDP growth rate, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said yesterday.
Speaking at the 5th OPEC International Seminar in Vienna, Reddy said it was “estimated that a sustained $ 10 increase in oil prices lead to a 1.5 per cent reduction in the GDP of developing countries”.
“We have seen evidence of this in our own country: India’s GDP grew at 6.9 per cent during the last financial year (2011-12) down from the 8 per cent plus growth rate experienced in the past few years,” he said.
Reddy, whose speech copy was released by his office here, said between the 2010-11 and 2011-12, the world’s fourth largest oil importer saw its average cost of imported crude oil rising by $ 27 per barrel, “making India’s oil import bill rise from $ 100 billion to $ 140 billion dollars”.

“Higher international oil prices lead to domestic inflation, increased input costs, an increase in the budget deficit which invariably drives up interest rates and slows down the economic growth,” he said.
Also, net oil importing countries like India experience a deterioration in their balance of payments, putting downward pressure on exchange rates.
“As a result, imports become more expensive and exports less valuable, leading to a drop in real national income,” he said. “There could not be a more direct cause and effect relation than high oil prices retarding economic growth of oil importing countries”.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

China and India should focus on solar power instead of wasting tax dollars on oil and pollutive infrastructure much less nuclear. A state sponsored programme for energy via solar panels should put paid to any further expenditures in oil import or clean up costs. On top of that the carbon foot print could effectively be reduced to ZERO. Consider the response to the article below for an organic take on energy generation. Colonies of working elephants on ‘treadmills’ or ‘hamster wheels’, which also contribute to preservation of the good natured and communicative animal (treat them as equals not slaves or prisoners at a labour camp, remember that like people, elephants work and do need rest days, varieties of food, hours off, green space to relax and ‘frolic’ – meaning acres in which to run around) also make the ecologically destructive hydro damming options unnecessary as well as represent a harvestable source of ivory (which is as valuable as gold) after natural death occurs (also bone ivory furniture), at least until perpetual motion turbines are invented . . . EFFICIENCY and CONSERVATION ! Ganesh would approve! :

LONDON: The government and central bank will flood Britain’s banking system with more than 100 billion pounds ($155.43 billion), seeking to pump credit through an economy struggling to escape recession under the “black cloud” of the euro zone crisis.

In his annual Mansion House policy speech to London financiers on Thursday, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said Britain would launch a scheme to provide cheap long-term funding to banks to encourage them to lend to businesses and consumers.

He also said the bank would activate an emergency liquidity tool.

Treasury officials said the government plan could support an estimated 80 billion pounds in new loans, while the central bank’s separate scheme will provide monthly 5 billion pound tranches of six-month liquidity to banks.

King said the case for pumping more money into the economy via further purchases of government bonds had increased as the outlook for the economy had worsened, although he again rejected calls for the central bank to buy private assets.

King said the euro zone’s woes were leading to a crisis of confidence in Britain which was leading to a self-reinforcing weaker picture of growth.

“The black cloud has dampened animal spirits so that businesses and households are battening down the hatches to prepare for the storms ahead,” he said.

Britain’s action comes just before cliffhanger Greek elections this weekend that could determine the fate of the euro zone, as well as a meeting of the leaders of the world’s major economies next week to find ways to tackle the currency bloc’s crisis and spur the global economy.

British finance minister George Osborne warned of the huge dangers from a collapse of the euro area. He again urged euro zone leaders to fix the crisis and said Britain was taking action to protect its own economy.

“We are not powerless in the face of the euro zone debt storm,” Osborne said in his speech at Mansion House. “Together we can deploy new firepower to defend our economy from the crisis on our doorstep.”

Britain is still reeling from the 2007-2009 financial crisis that has left many Britons poorer and forced the country to bail out big banks with tens of billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money.

The government on Thursday announced a sweeping reform of bank regulations aimed at making financial institutions safer, and avoiding a re-run of the crisis which has pushed Britain into recession twice in the last four years.

CASH BOOST

Britain slid back into recession around the turn of this year, piling pressure on Osborne’s embattled Conservative-led coalition government to come up with new ways to boost growth.

The government has pinned its fortunes on a tough austerity plan of tax hikes and spending cuts to erase a budget deficit which still comes in at around 8 percent of GDP.

Osborne defended his debt-cutting measures, arguing that they gave the Bank of England the leeway to keep monetary policy loose, and said there was still more the central bank could do.

BoE Governor Mervyn King said the central bank would complement its quantitative easing asset purchase scheme with new steps to encourage bank lending and reduce their funding costs, which have rocketed as a result of the euro zone crisis.

The BoE and finance ministry have designed a new scheme, to be launched in a few weeks, that would offer banks loans with a maturity of possibly 3-4 years at below current market rates.

The loans would be made available on condition that banks increase their lending to businesses and households.

In addition, the central bank will activate its Extended Collateral Term Repo facility, created in December, to provide six-month liquidity to banks against a wide range of collateral.

King said now was the right time to activate the scheme, which is aimed at helping banks through phases of exceptional stress.

King hinted that the central bank may also restart its QE programme, which it halted in May having bought 325 billion pounds of British government bonds, and countered accusations that the scheme had lost its effectiveness.

“With signs of a deterioration in the outlook, especially in world markets, the case for a further monetary easing is growing,” King said. – Reuter

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The English (in typical crooked English style, butchers and colonizers of the Isles and Colonial era, now conmen of the world . . . ), are going to ‘con’ REAL GOODS producing countries with that worthless scrip via the English citizens. BRICS, OPEC nations, use barter to counter this sad ploy and finish off the fiat printers. England’s economy has NOTHING to offer but printed ‘Banana Notes’. DO not be stupid enough to exchange your REAL GOODS for worthless fiat. Continue hiring REAL SERVICES providers though, and reward the workers with REAL GOODS instead. If the English want to buy from these areas a cheap car or house and migrate, or commodities like oil, they ‘jolly well’ can WORK for that. Now will those foreign exchange fiat peddlars adjust the value of the already overpriced Sterling Pound down about 3 zeroes please? And even that is being 2/3rds too lenient for a country that produces NOTHING but only subsists on unreasonable fines and commission charges via transactitons, little wonder the Scots want out . . .

ARTICLE 16

Benefits of direct yen-yuan may be few, far between – by Yang Guoying (Global Times) – 08:20, June 18, 2012

Effective June 1, China and Japan launched a new currency exchange program which allowed direct trading of yuan and yen, making the Japanese yen the second major currency, after the US dollar, that can be directly exchanged with the renminbi.

This new scheme, its advocates claim, will reinforce bilateral trade and investment between the two countries by lowering transaction costs and settlement risks at financial institutions, and also promote the internationalization of the yuan by building up its position in the world’s third largest economy.

While there certainly is the potential for this much-lauded agreement to further these goals, there is also a chance the scheme could fall flat or run counter to China’s best economic interests.

Over the past decade, China has been enlarging its commodities and energy imports and has been using these resources to develop its own high-tech equipment and precision machinery for export, a sector that was previously dominated by Japan.

While lowering settlement costs might stimulate bilateral trade between China and Japan, as the countries gradually shift away from a complimentary trade relationship toward a competitive one, the benefits of the new scheme may not have the dramatic impact many are expecting.

Moreover, the scheme will push up the weight of the yen in China’s foreign reserves and as Japan’s public debt snowballs, the risks of holding its currency will continue to mount. Over the past year, three of the world’s most respected rating agencies – Fitch Ratings, Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s – have all downgraded Japan’s credit rating as its debt is expected to clock in at 240 percent of its annual GDP by the end of 2012. As a Japanese economic recovery continues to remain elusive, China could find itself saddled under the weight of an ever-depreciating yen.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan, the country’s central bank, announced on May 23, it would maintain its overnight interbank market interest rate between zero and 0.1 percent, much lower than that of most other countries, including China, as part of its monetary policies.

The direct trading of the yen and the yuan will facilitate Japanese investors who plan to profit from the difference between interest rates in the two countries’ money markets, leading to an inflow of hot money.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Again I promulgate barter of REAL GOODS or contracts for labour of foreign workers as the best system. The fact that China is aware that exchange of fiat is a waste of time bodes well for a REAL GOODS or REAL LABOUR based economic system. Fiat exchange only enriches the banks, agencies and the middlemen via the bloodsucking fees imposed at every turn or every transaction with the actual moving of fiat scrip the epitome of farcical economy. Any country can print fiat and add plenty of zeros, try the English above. That fiat is worth nothing, even as the sterling pound belongs in the pound being backed by nothing. Except shiny banks that AGAIN penalise citizens of whatever country they appear in. Barter, especially between nations is the way to go. Governments also can distribute fiat internally to the closest cronies – especially in 3rd world countries without accountability, where anyone who demands an audit or access to the accounts is automatically treated as an enemy of the state rather than honest expositions of what goes on, tell me how many people have access to the mint and we will know how transparent a government’s internal fiat system is, the more the merrier, the lowlier who can access the safer . . . making the case for the precious metals currency that some proponents wishing to prevent uncontrolled printing of fiat (like the Quantitative Easing of USA or England’s 100 billion flood above without appropriate devaluations – indicating collusion between governments, especially rhose who tend to collude on NATO type issues) are pushing for.

KATHMANDU, JUN 17 – With the price skyrocketing, gold is gradually getting out of middle-class reach. Such is the rise that the price set records for three straight days last week.Instead of buying fresh designs, Bullion traders say the trend of remaking old jewelries is on the rise. Even regular, potential customers have stopped buying, they say. “Half of our customers are remaking their old ornaments,” said Tej Ratna Shakya, president of the Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (Negosida).

The escalating price has forced customers, particularly those buying gold for wedding purpose, to reduce quantity. For many Nepalis gold ornaments are a must in wedding ceremonies. “The price has increased sharply over the last year,” said Shakya. “This has resulted in low sales.”The gold price started to rise since 2008, according to gold traders. Since then, the price has gone up by a whopping 133 percent. In 2012 alone, the price rose by Rs 4,240 per 10 gram.

Last week’s figures show how the gold price is escalating in the local market. When the market opened on Sunday, gold was traded at Rs 48, 270 per 10 gm, but the figure jumped to Rs 48, 825 on Wednesday and to Rs 49,040 on Thursday, before closing at a record high of Rs 49,080 per 10 gram on Friday.

The price of gold in the domestic market is determined in line with the international trend. With the price remaining volatile in international market, its impact is reflected here. Major drivers of the price in the international market are global macroeconomic events.

Gold price is expected to further rise in dollar terms due to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and a possible quantitative easing. International media have reported that the worsening eurozone crisis is catalysing gold demand and is, thereby, supportive of gold prices.

Bullion traders attributed the surge in the price in the local market to the rise in the international market price and a freefall of Nepali rupee against the US dollar. Since the local market is dependent on the international market for gold and silver, changes in the exchange rate of dollar and gold price are directly proportional. Traders predict a further rise in gold price if the Nepali rupee further devaluates.

The government has maintained a quantitative restriction on gold imports since 2010 after massive imports led to a negative balance of payments situation. The import quota is presently 20 kg a day, up from 15 kg previously. Nepal imported gold worth Rs 41.63 billion in fiscal 2009-10. Imports plunged to Rs 11.35 billion last year after the imposition of the quota.Imports have reached 4,350 kg worth more than Rs 18.8 billion in the first nine months of this fiscal year. Nepal imported 400 kg of gold in mid-January which jumped to 600 kg in mid-April.

The prison industry in the United States: big business or a new form of slavery?

HUMAN rights organizations, as well as political and social ones, are condemning what they are calling a new form of inhumane exploitation in the United States, where they say a prison population of up to 2 million – mostly Black and Hispanic – are working for various industries for a pittance. For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. They don’t have to worry about strikes or paying unemployment insurance, vacations or comp time. All of their workers are full-time, and never arrive late or are absent because of family problems; moreover, if they don’t like the pay of 25 cents an hour and refuse to work, they are locked up in isolation cells.

There are approximately 2 million inmates in state, federal and private prisons throughout the country. According to California Prison Focus, “no other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its own citizens.” The figures show that the United States has locked up more people than any other country: a half million more than China, which has a population five times greater than the U.S. Statistics reveal that the United States holds 25% of the world’s prison population, but only 5% of the world’s people. From less than 300,000 inmates in 1972, the jail population grew to 2 million by the year 2000. In 1990 it was one million. Ten years ago there were only five private prisons in the country, with a population of 2,000 inmates; now, there are 100, with 62,000 inmates. It is expected that by the coming decade, the number will hit 360,000, according to reports.

What has happened over the last 10 years? Why are there so many prisoners?

“The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prisoners’ work lobby for longer sentences, in order to expand their workforce. The system feeds itself,” says a study by the Progressive Labor Party, which accuses the prison industry of being “an imitation of Nazi Germany with respect to forced slave labor and concentration camps.”

The prison industry complex is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States and its investors are on Wall Street. “This multimillion-dollar industry has its own trade exhibitions, conventions, websites, and mail-order/Internet catalogs. It also has direct advertising campaigns, architecture companies, construction companies, investment houses on Wall Street, plumbing supply companies, food supply companies, armed security, and padded cells in a large variety of colors.”

According to the Left Business Observer, the federal prison industry produces 100% of all military helmets, ammunition belts, bullet-proof vests, ID tags, shirts, pants, tents, bags, and canteens. Along with war supplies, prison workers supply 98% of the entire market for equipment assembly services; 93% of paints and paintbrushes; 92% of stove assembly; 46% of body armor; 36% of home appliances; 30% of headphones/microphones/speakers; and 21% of office furniture. Airplane parts, medical supplies, and much more: prisoners are even raising seeing-eye dogs for blind people.

CRIME GOES DOWN, JAIL POPULATION GOES UP

According to reports by human rights organizations, these are the factors that increase the profit potential for those who invest in the prison industry complex:

• Jailing persons convicted of non-violent crimes, and long prison sentences for possession of microscopic quantities of illegal drugs. Federal law stipulates five years’ imprisonment without possibility of parole for possession of 5 grams of crack or 3.5 ounces of heroin, and 10 years for possession of less than 2 ounces of rock-cocaine or crack. A sentence of 5 years for cocaine powder requires possession of 500 grams – 100 times more than the quantity of rock cocaine for the same sentence. Most of those who use cocaine powder are white, middle-class or rich people, while mostly Blacks and Latinos use rock cocaine. In Texas, a person may be sentenced for up to two years’ imprisonment for possessing 4 ounces of marijuana. Here in New York, the 1973 Nelson Rockefeller anti-drug law provides for a mandatory prison sentence of 15 years to life for possession of 4 ounces of any illegal drug.

• The passage in 13 states of the “three strikes” laws (life in prison after being convicted of three felonies), made it necessary to build 20 new federal prisons. One of the most disturbing cases resulting from this measure was that of a prisoner who for stealing a car and two bicycles received three 25-year sentences.

• Longer sentences.

• The passage of laws that require minimum sentencing, without regard for circumstances.

• A large expansion of work by prisoners creating profits that motivate the incarceration of more people for longer periods of time.

• More punishment of prisoners, so as to lengthen their sentences.

HISTORY OF PRISON LABOR IN THE UNITED STATES

Prison labor has its roots in slavery. After the 1861-1865 Civil War, a system of “hiring out prisoners” was introduced in order to continue the slavery tradition. Freed slaves were charged with not carrying out their sharecropping commitments (cultivating someone else’s land in exchange for part of the harvest) or petty thievery – which were almost never proven – and were then “hired out” for cotton picking, working in mines and building railroads. From 1870 until 1910 in the state of Georgia, 88% of hired-out convicts were Black. In Alabama, 93% of “hired-out” miners were Black. In Mississippi, a huge prison farm similar to the old slave plantations replaced the system of hiring out convicts. The notorious Parchman plantation existed until 1972.

During the post-Civil War period, Jim Crow racial segregation laws were imposed on every state, with legal segregation in schools, housing, marriages and many other aspects of daily life. “Today, a new set of markedly racist laws is imposing slave labor and sweatshops on the criminal justice system, now known as the prison industry complex,” comments the Left Business Observer.

Who is investing? At least 37 states have legalized the contracting of prison labor by private corporations that mount their operations inside state prisons. The list of such companies contains the cream of U.S. corporate society: IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom’s, Revlon, Macy’s, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more. All of these businesses are excited about the economic boom generation by prison labor. Just between 1980 and 1994, profits went up from $392 million to $1.31 billion. Inmates in state penitentiaries generally receive the minimum wage for their work, but not all; in Colorado, they get about $2 per hour, well under the minimum. And in privately-run prisons, they receive as little as 17 cents per hour for a maximum of six hours a day, the equivalent of $20 per month. The highest-paying private prison is CCA in Tennessee, where prisoners receive 50 cents per hour for what they call “highly skilled positions.” At those rates, it is no surprise that inmates find the pay in federal prisons to be very generous. There, they can earn $1.25 an hour and work eight hours a day, and sometimes overtime. They can send home $200-$300 per month.

Thanks to prison labor, the United States is once again an attractive location for investment in work that was designed for Third World labor markets. A company that operated a maquiladora (assembly plant in Mexico near the border) closed down its operations there and relocated to San Quentin State Prison in California. In Texas, a factory fired its 150 workers and contracted the services of prisoner-workers from the private Lockhart Texas prison, where circuit boards are assembled for companies like IBM and Compaq.

Oregon State Representative Kevin Mannix recently urged Nike to cut its production in Indonesia and bring it to his state, telling the shoe manufacturer that “there won’t be any transportation costs; we’re offering you competitive prison labor (here).”

PRIVATE PRISONS

The prison privatization boom began in the 1980s, under the governments of Ronald Reagan and Bush Sr., but reached its height in 1990 under William Clinton, when Wall Street stocks were selling like hotcakes. Clinton’s program for cutting the cutting the federal workforce resulted in the Justice Departments contracting of private prison corporations for the incarceration of undocumented workers and high-security inmates.

Private prisons are the biggest business in the prison industry complex. About 18 corporations guard 10,000 prisoners in 27 states. The two largest are Correctional Corporation of America (CCA) and Wackenhut, which together control 75%. Private prisons receive a guaranteed amount of money for each prisoner, independent of what it costs to maintain each one. According to Russell Boraas, a private prison administrator in Virginia, “the secret to low operating costs is having a minimal number of guards for the maximum number of prisoners.” The CCA has an ultra-modern prison in Lawrenceville, Virginia, where five guards on dayshift and two at night watch over 750 prisoners. In these prisons, inmates may get their sentences reduced for “good behavior,” but for any infraction, they get 30 days added – which means more profits for CCA. According to a study of New Mexico prisons, it was found that CCA inmates lost “good behavior time” at a rate eight times higher than those in state prisons.

IMPORTING AND EXPORTING INMATES

Profits are so good that now there is a new business: importing inmates with long sentences, meaning the worst criminals. When a federal judge ruled that overcrowding in Texas prisons was cruel and unusual punishment, the CCA signed contracts with sheriffs in poor counties to build and run new jails and share the profits. According to a December 1998 Atlantic Monthly magazine article, this program was backed by investors from Merrill-Lynch, Shearson-Lehman, American Express and Allstate, and the operation was scattered all over rural Texas. That state’s governor, Ann Richards, followed the example of Mario Cuomo in New York and built so many state prisons that the market became flooded, cutting into private prison profits.

After a law signed by Clinton in 1996 – ending court supervision and decisions – caused overcrowding and violent, unsafe conditions in federal prisons, private prison corporations in Texas began to contact other states whose prisons were overcrowded, offering “rent-a-cell” services in the CCA prisons located in small towns in Texas. The commission for a rent-a-cell salesman is $2.50 to $5.50 per day per bed. The county gets $1.50 for each prisoner.

STATISTICS

Ninety-seven percent of 125,000 federal inmates have been convicted of non-violent crimes. It is believed that more than half of the 623,000 inmates in municipal or county jails are innocent of the crimes they are accused of. Of these, the majority are awaiting trial. Two-thirds of the one million state prisoners have committed non-violent offenses. Sixteen percent of the country’s 2 million prisoners suffer from mental illness.

My guess is who has the biggest “chest” Lady Gaga or Madonna will win over this one because the average person, even those now on ATS for the most part don’t see that old train coming……………and it’s labeled “Slaughterhouse”.

They are putting people in prison for cheap labor that are selling small amounts of that green plant / drug we cannot name (When our government is linked to some of the drug trade itself)

Steal a loaf of bread or sell a couple ounces of that green plant we cannot name and you may find yourself in jail.

Steal someone’s pension or house and you may find yourself rich and promoted to head CEO or Bank Manager.

Reply posted on 8-3-2012 @ 05:52 PM by Ladysophiaofsandoz

Sadly in America it comes down to how much justice can you AFFORD. The poor get public defenders and well, you get what you pay for. They figure it keeps the poor off the streets and keeps them from rallying together in the parks. As a bonus once you convict them they loose the right to vote and thus loose the ability to change things. Just like cows in the corals at the slaughter house all rounded up and numbered for easy processing. I have heard that one in three American youths have been in the system by the age of 23. Wow American kids must be the most dangerous children in the world. [[[ Mention the contractor collusion that high prison populations enrich more . . . ]]]

This practice has been gaining momentum for a long time. Most county and municipal jails have been using private contractors to manage the population for a few years. It’s cheaper that way. Personally I think it has become a necessary evil as more and more states are loosing their tax base that helped support jails and prisons. D.A’s along with the various, federal agencies are all about being tough on crime, blindly so, while boosting their own careers and turning us all into criminals. Thanks to all the new and improved laws now on the books, we’ll be seeing farmers, anti-immunizing parents and kids with a bad attitude added to the growing number of prison inmates. It seems that we are attacking the wrong end of this problem.

reply posted on 8-3-2012 @ 07:28 PM by TKDRL

The whole justice system is a joke, and for profit. They speak their own convoluted languages, so as to force you to hire a liar. The judges are all ex liars, sitting on the bench after proving themselves really good liars. The judges keep the sham going for future liars. There should be few laws, in language even a fifth grader understands, get rid of all the ritual crap, and secret languages. A person should not have to pay 4 grand to a liar to fight a bogus speeding ticket…. Ever had to defend yourself against bogus charges in criminal court? The money liars make for defending you should be a crime!

Yet again private business is looking for new way to take advantage of the crisis facing governments and to maximizing profits.

At a time when states are struggling to reduce bloated prison populations and tight budgets, a private prison management company is offering to buy prisons in exchange for various considerations, including a controversial guarantee that the governments maintain a 90% occupancy rate for at least 20 years.

How can anyone guarantee how full a prison is going to be.are the courts going to have targets to hit to keep the prision population up so it wont drop below 90%. There are some in the local goverment who even think this is going to far.

Roger Werholtz, former Kansas secretary of corrections, said states may be tempted by the “quick infusion of cash,” but he would recommend against such a deal. “My concern would be that our state would be obligated to maintain these (occupancy) rates and subtle pressure would be applied to make sentencing laws more severe with a clear intent to drive up the population,” Werholtz said.

If you go to prision it should be because your guilty and nothing else.

[[[*** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Look here just drop the prison paradigm. Read the ‘better judgments‘ category on this blog. There really isn’t alot of need for prisons . . .

ARTICLE 2

Dean of Texas Senate rejects CCA prison purchase proposal

Yesterday, Frank wrote that the ACLU, Presbyterian Criminal Justice Network, and a broad coalition of civil rights and faith leaders were opposing CCA’s recent offer to buy state prisons in return for states maintaining 90% occupancy at these facilities.

Now, these groups are being joined by Texas State Senator John Whitmire, the Dean of the Senate and long-time chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. Whitmire, speaking to USA Today (“Private purchasing of prisons locks in occupancy rates,” March 8th), had this to say:

“You don’t want a prison system operating with the goal of maximizing profits,” says Texas state Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat and advocate for reducing prison populations through less costly diversion programs. “The only thing worse is that this seeks to take advantage of some states’ troubled financial position.”

Former Kansas Secretary of Corrections Roger Werholtz also warned against the temptation of a “quick infusion of cash” saying

“♣My♣ concern would be that our state would be obligated to maintain these (occupancy) rates and subtle pressure would be applied to make sentencing laws more severe with a clear intent to drive up the population.”

Im happy that someone in my state legislature is saying no to this.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

At least there are some voices of reason. Being Capitalism oriented is not very American, Human Rights and freedom of religion (not specifically freedom to be Protestant . . . ) is much more American. It would be best if the Five Civilised Tribes of Native Red Ameri-Indians had a Governor each out of USA’s 52 states and that a Native Red Ameri-Indian Chieftain’s post be created for the ceremonial Presidential role, with perhaps the current President’s powers be shifted partially to the Chieftain as well. Remember that Native America was the territory of the Native Red Ameri-Indians before the white colonists and their slave trading behaviour brought African Americans to America. USA looks like a Business outfit without a proper tradition and culture, which should be that of the Native Red Ameri-Indians’.

Long before the white man (or black) set foot on American soil . . . this is the red man's country, so how many NA governors is that again? Maybe they're a minority but USA is still their country . . .

ARTICLE 3

Congress ‘criminalizing’ First Amendment – ‘No longer need to be conspiracy theorist’ to worry about police state Published: 5 days ago – by Bob UnruhEmail

Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after spending nearly three decades writing on a wide range of issues for several Upper Midwest newspapers and the Associated Press. Sports, tornadoes, homicidal survivalists, and legislative battles all fell within his bailiwick. His scenic photography has been used commercially, and he sometimes plays in a church worship band.More ?

In a plan that started out as a knee-jerk reaction to a crazed assailant’s attack on U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords a year ago, Congress has approved and sent to President Obama legislation that critics say essentially guts the First Amendment.

“The bill’s language is so overly broad as to put an end to free speech, political protest and the right to peaceably assembly in all areas where government officials happen to be present,” wrote John Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute about H.R. 347.

It was approved by Congress and awaits only Obama’s signature. While garnering significant enthusiasm in Congress, one member, Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., said he couldn’t support it.

“Current law makes it illegal to enter or remain in an area where certain government officials (more particularly, those with Secret Service protection) will be visiting temporarily if and only if the person knows it’s illegal to enter the restricted area but does so anyway,” he said. “The bill expands current law to make it a crime to enter or remain in an area where an official is visiting even if the person does not know it’s illegal to be in that area and has no reason to suspect it’s illegal.

“Some government officials may need extraordinary protection to ensure their safety. But criminalizing legitimate First Amendment activity – even if that activity is annoying to those government officials – violates our rights,” he said.

The bill states, “Whoever knowingly enters or remains in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so; knowingly, and with intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of government business or official functions, engages in disorderly or disruptive conduct in, or within such proximity to, any restricted building or grounds when, or so that, such conduct, in fact, impedes or disrupts the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions; knowingly, and with the intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of government business or official functions, obstructs or impedes ingress or egress to or from any restricted building or grounds; or knowingly engages in any act of physical violence against any person or property in any restricted building or grounds; attempts or conspires to do so, shall be punished…”

What happens when the government itself refuses to follow the Constitution? Judge Andrew Napolitano explains in “A Nation of Sheep.”

Significantly, though, the definition of “restricted buildings” is anywhere where someone protected by the Secret Service “will be temporarily visiting.”

“A person eating in a diner while a presidential candidate is trying to score political points with the locals could be arrested if government agents determine that he is acting ‘disorderly.’ Mind you, depending on who’s making the assessment, anything can be considered disorderly, including someone exercising his right to free speech by muttering to himself about a government official. And if that person happens to have a pocketknife or nail clippers in his possession (or any other innocuous item that could be interpreted by the police as ‘dangerous’), he could face up to 10 years in prison,” Whitehead warned.

“Given that the Secret Service not only protects the president but all past sitting presidents, members of Congress, foreign dignitaries, presidential candidates, and anyone who the president determines needs protection, anywhere these officials happen to be becomes a zone where the First Amendment is effectively off-limits,” he said.

At the Examiner, Philadelphia columnist Tim McCown concluded: “Defenders and apologists for mainly Democrats and Obama supporters claim this act is completely innocent and all of us who believe differently have drunk Ron Paul’s Kool-Aid again. But a post on George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley’s blog page notes that the imprecise language, just as in the NDAA, creates risks and can most definitely be seen as a threat to our First Amendment right to Free Speech, Freedom of Assembly, and Freedom to Petition our government. None of that is very comforting in light of the Patriot Act and surveillance of and wire tapping of Americans.”

He continued, “Tonight you no longer need to be a conspiracy theorist to have real questions about whether we are becoming a police state.”

On Paul’s website was this: “Just when you thought the government couldn’t ruin the First Amendment any further: The House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that outlaws protests in instances where some government officials are nearby, whether or not you even know it.”

Whitehead noted that members of Congress, feeling the wrath of Americans pummeled by rising fuel prices, a tanking economy and unpopular war efforts, “Have been working hard to keep their unhappy constituents at a distance – avoiding town-hall meetings, making minimal public appearances while at home in their districts, only appearing at events in controlled settings where they’re the only ones talking, and if they must interact with constituents, doing so via telephone town meetings or impromptu visits to local businesses where the chances of being accosted by angry voters are greatly minimized.

“While the Trespass Bill may have started out with the best of intentions, it has ended up as the government’s declaration of zero tolerance for individuals exercising their First Amendment rights,” he said.

“If these types of laws had been in effect during the Civil Rights movement, there would have been no march on Washington. Martin Luther King Jr. and his fellow activists would have been rendered criminals. And King’s call for ‘militant nonviolent resistance’ would have been silenced by police in riot gear,” he said.

He also criticized so-called “First Amendment zones” or areas.

“Free speech zones have become commonplace at political rallies and the national conventions of both major political parties,” he said. “One of the most infamous free speech zones was erected at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Not so much a zone of free expression as a cage, it was a space enclosed by chain link fences, Jersey walls, and razor wire. Judge Douglas Woodlock, who toured the free speech cage before the convention, noted, ‘One cannot conceive of other elements put in place to make a space more of an affront to the idea of free expression than the designated demonstration zone.’

“Bubble zones and free speech zones, in essence, destroy the very purpose of the First Amendment, which assures us of the right to peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances,” he said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

That Orwellian streak surely comes from England, and unless the Blue Coat, Red Coat dichotomy (Donkey or Ass – which is why the nation specific/aware Continental Europeans look down the mixed pedigree of Americans, and are in turn snubbed at by USA for being communal) though American has grown much due to the War of Independence and Bluecoats, Elephant – alluding to colonial India perhaps?) Obama shouldn’t play up the England link too much due to thes historical factors (how could Obama say USA shares a history with England?!?) which de-Americanises the sense of Liberty, rather Obama should in all fair treatment of the colonized peoples and his own cruelly ‘imported’ peoples hand the stage to the Red Native Ameri-Indians instead of the Orwellian Tory RED COAT, WHITE Monarch led England. Louisiana
(French) and the Confederate states (Spanish) might as well be mentioned instead making up 2/3rds of USA.

Corporatocracy as a colony of England is terrible and relegates America to a symbol of Commonwealth-Colonial vassalship rather than a super power. USA is at a weak point now, and with the abuses of England (few hundred years worth) still uncorrected, USA should distance itself from England (which is quite worthless militarily in terms of assets) but foster friendship on an equal basis with the EU instead. Guess why?

EU could almost crush England and has half a mind to all the time. USA should choose the guys who fetted the Blue Coats – Remember the Statue of Liberty? The cult trappings of the English Mason/Illuminist/NWO or what not stand for nothing against ‘real politic’ . . . and real politic as not often played up by the EU (who are unfortunately too gentrified and struggling internally with tha PC exceptionalism to make any impression) easily shows that USA is sliding back into colony mentality by the sheer pathos of jolly England. USA forgot, it was England who wanted to crush USA and France (i.e. Europe) who HELPED USA become independent.

Ole Massah at the US table, bring out the fine porcelain! Weren't the Tories thrown out of USA? Obama could have declined and sent the Tea Party Leader (now THAT would have been a stylish statement) to face the clique (Tory) that took 7 years to 'Teabag' that the English are half thinking about 'Tea bagging' as well . . .

Missed opportunity for a citizen’s arrest and a war crimes tribunal?

Half the stones in the Royal Jewels were taken in hostile military occupations, from Muslims (Abu Said’s Black Ruby), Indians (Eye of Brahma, Star of India during colonial era mining), African (Star of Africa, Cullinan Diamond), and Persian (some doubtless from the Peacock Throne), Chinese jewels and artifacts etc. etc.

Now why would USA want to associate with a nation which tried to subjugate USA and trashed half the world and even turned on their own homeland Germany in WW2? The pathos of Royalty and perhaps secret societies has dazzled Pres.O . . . show us all Ole Massah has to pay for them flayings . . .

What was the War of Independence about again? Well hear this!

Who's a Red Coat?

Misplaced adoration by Pres. O . . . Too Damn Toff! Hey USA, while reconsidering what American means, crush a few strategically and politically negligible 3rd world minded countries with the Green Card meanwhile, just too cumbersome to get those from where some of us are! ( . . . Lol-American – can haz Grencard . . . seriously terrible in the 3rd world . . . )

A section of the parents at the pro-PPSMI rally in Petaling Jaya on March 10, 2012. — Picture by Choo Choy May
PETALING JAYA, March 10 — Several parents’ groups said today they will band together in a coalition to push Putrajaya into reinstating the teaching of science and mathematics in English (PPSMI).

Concerned Parents of Selangor (CPS) head Shamsudin Hami said the new umbrella group, Association of Parents Groups for Reforming Education (ASPIRE), will allow for easier exchange of views between the government and pro-PPSMI parents.

“We cannot address matters in bits and pieces… To make the job easier, we are forming a coalition of parents’ groups,” he told reporters at a PPSMI rally at Padang Timur here that was attended by some 150 parents.

Shamsudin speaks to the press on the formation of a coalition of parents’ groups.

“With ASPIRE, there should be no more excuses. You don’t need to go state by state and waste time, waste taxpayers’ money. Just stick to ASPIRE, because ASPIRE consists of parents’ groups from Penang to Johor and Sabah.”

Also present were representatives from the Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE), Malacca Action Group of Parents in Education (MAGPIE), Herald of Penang Education (HOPE) and lawmakers Hannah Yeoh and Loh Gwo-Burne.

Shamsudin said ASPIRE will put together a “parents’ charter” on education which will encompass all the issues which have to be addressed in order to transform the education system, he said.

This included the removal of “culturally-biased, so-called knowledge” present in the national education syllabus, which is needed if confidence in national schools is to be restored, he said.

He reiterated that PPSMI must be made an option in schools, the implementation of which should be left to parents and not headmasters or even the Education Ministry.

Shamsudin added he remained hopeful that the government will listen to the demands of parents who favour PPSMI, noting that Putrajaya had promised to abolish the Internal Security Act (ISA) after receiving heavy criticism from the public and civil rights groups.

“Apart from whatever is written in the holy books, I don’t think that is chiselled in stone,” he said.

“PPSMI is only a policy. What about the ISA? It’s a law. It can be removed. So it’s all up to the people and the government. It needs political will.”

The government has come under fire from former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and pro-English lobby groups over its move in 2009 to revert to the teaching of science and mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia (MBMMBI).

Despite much criticism, Putrajaya has said it will not back down from the decision but would allow the final PPSMI batch to continue until they complete their secondary education.

MBMMBI, mooted in July 2009 as a replacement for PPSMI, came into effect in January last year for Year One students.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Good work. This voting bloc should enforce democracy with the Ministry of Education. The ‘optionals’, and opt out option should always be part of a democratic government method in all laws. Next focus on 66.6% quorums at a one-man one-vote law, for all registered or professional societies and all levels of government AND considered against the UNHCR as well. Have Hannah and Gwo-Burne had a chance to ask Bar Council about the other problems some of us have been asking about?

ARTICLE 2

Times have changed! — Lim Mun Fah – March 10, 2012

I always heard my grandfather said that when I was young, and my parents said that too when I was growing up. And now, as I am getting old, I always say that myself.

Times have indeed changed. Everyone knows the truth. The problem is, have you changed to adapt yourself to the new era?

If the Lynas rare earths refinery plant was built in Kuantan 30 years ago, perhaps no one would oppose to it. Even if there were opposing voices, it would be too weak to have an effect.

Similarly, if the Pengerang oil and gas complex in Johor was built 30 years ago, it would not trigger a controversy. Even if it caused discontentment, the residents would still helplessly accept it.

However, times have changed. Today, the people’s awareness of environmental protection, demand for human rights and the pursuit of the right to know are much stronger than 30 years ago.

As the mentality of many government officials are still stuck in the era 30 years ago, they think that the people nowadays are not much different from those 30 years ago. That is why they have always underestimated the rebound from the civil society, and are caught in a dilemma.

The cover story of the latest issue of Yazhou Zhoukan is worthy of our reference and reflection as it analyses the continuation of the entanglement of business and politics of the British colonial era in Hong Kong.

Like Hong Kong, our bureaucratic system originated from the British colonial government. Although our country has been independent for over half a century, the traces of such entanglement of business and policy can still be detected everywhere, it is sometimes even worse than the practice in the past.

However, times have really changed, so has the political environment. Members of the public are now having harsher expectations of politicians. Secretive governance can no longer meet the public’s right to know. In particular, the people have been expecting more after the 2008 political tsunami. They ask for a more transparent policy, as well as more reasonable and fair governance. They also demand for better governance ability and higher morality from politicians and government officials.

Therefore, “official secrets” can no longer be used as an excuse to cover major decision-making and governance. Government officials have to be responsible for every word they said and every decision they made. The people will use the rights of citizens to question improper policies, condemn unreasonable and unfair phenomena. Meanwhile, the media will continue to follow up and report the latest developments. The National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal serves as the best example here.

Times have changed and progressed. Those who fail to catch up with the changes are destined to be eliminated by the times! — mysinchew.com

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The article write wrote : ‘Even if there were opposing voices, would be too weak to have an effect.’

There will always be an effect. Just that the spaces and numbers are smaller instead though no less if not more vobrant internally by measure of focus – as all memes are equal in value due to the diversity itself, none can be abolished. All views and methods are valid after all, so don’t worry about older generation subcultures (nepotism being the most decadant in anything but the smallest businesses) or the newest and least acceptable memes, there will be some who keep those alive like rarefied subcultures and such. The thing is to remember not to impose on others one’s views and to live and let live. Like Voltair said to fight for one’s right to think, fighting for the right to live as one will is the natural progression. To propagate whatever should be done only when consensual as per ethical considerations.

Pakatan Rakyat deserves ridicule for neglecting the interests of the rakyat in exchange for their power struggle within their own coalition.

One latest example is the selection and appointment of new local councillors recently whereby DAP wrangled among themselves for power which thereby directly damages the image of Selangor. This has caused the loss of the tax-payers’ money besides affecting the system of governance within Selangor state.

Due to the infightings, the Selangor state administration is unable to reappoint the contractors for rubbish collection. Tonnes of rubbish have been dumped and accumulating everywhere in Selangor causing residents to air their grievances and complaints.

Pakatan internal power tussles in Kedah & Penang too besides Selangor

Another example of an internal battle for authority within a Pakatan-held state is Kedah whereby two of their state Exco members had a falling out with the Menteri Besar Azizan. Even with the intervention of the PAS Central Committee, their leadership was also unable to help resolve the problem there. Hence, the PAS top leadership had directly affected the functioning and administrative work of the state government as well.

I wish to reiterate that Pakatan having ruled Kedah and Penang for 4 years has caused so many problems. The biggest controversy at hand is that PAS has appointed a steering committee with veto powers headed by themselves to advise and oversee the administration of the state.

In addition, both the DAP Penang State Chairman Karpal Singh is also fighting with his Deputy Ramasamy just ahead of the upcoming General Elections. Supporters of both parties concerned are also fighting with one another. Ramasamy had even revealed that some grassroot leaders had asked “favours” from him.

Internal strife was also tense in DAP Selangor which witnessed the power scuffle arising from the abuse of Exco Ronnie Liu’s letterheads by his ex-political aide, Tee Boon Hock. Selangor State Speaker Teng Chang Kim was also called up by the DAP Disciplinary Board for his twitter statements issued recently.

Looking at the entire scenario, this is not a matter involving DAP alone, but a subject relating to both the state government and the rakyat.

YAP EE WAH is State Assemblyman for Sungai Pelek

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The Rakyat also are aware that BN has not yet implemented with that mandate :

1) Freedom from Apartheid/Fascism
2) Freedom from Religious-Persecution/Religious-Supremacy.
3) Equality for all ethnicities and faiths in all aspects of policy, Law and Constitution.

Don’t make announcements here that are meaningless here, use that mandate to grant the above or BN is FINISHED simply to be punished for non-use of that mandate. Also TERM limits and prevention of family blocs in BN as well. The nepotism issue is a glaringly obvious in BN as in PR.

The government’s decision to withdraw the ‘exit policy’ for civil servants, which is meant to dismiss them for poor performance or lack of discipline, is a regretful decision as I believe that with the increase in salary for civil servants, the government should also not neglect to develop an administrative system of rewards and punishment in order to control the civil service’s attitude and efficiency.

The performance of the civil servants is the key to the success, or failure, of the government’s transformation programmes. They are also important to determine the nation’s competitiveness as well as represent the image of the Barisan Nasional government. However, in the past civil servants had adopted a ‘little Napoleon’ attitude which has backfired onto the BN government by making it scapegoats.

A notable example is when MCA President Dr Chua Soi Lek had sternly criticized officials of the Education Ministry for playing around with the date on SJKC teachers.

It is important for the government to set up a fair and transparent evaluation system for rewarding and punishing civil servants, even following the steps of the private sector which adopts the policy of dismissing employees, thus breaking down the bad perception that the civil service is unproductive.

Currently the civil service is besieged with bureaucracy, arrogance and inaction, along with the drawbacks of corruption and abuse of power. All these have created a negative impact on the government and the nation’s economy, and have caused the people to lose faith in the government.

For too long the Barisan Nasional has carried the burden of poor civil service and it is now time to implement a more effective system to clear the civil service or poor performers and ‘deadwood’.

The salary scheme must be based on meritocracy, with potential and experience being used to decide the increment of civil servant’s salaries, and bonuses and benefits being awarded based on work performance.

What the people want is a clean and fair public service mechanism which is more in touch with the people, and MCA believes that to enhance the quality and efficiency of public service administration, the system of rewarding and punishment is a necessary one.

CHAI KIM SEN is MCA Youth Secretary-General

(The views expressed above belongs to the author in its entirety and does not represent the opinion of Malaysian Mirror in any way)

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

End the APARTHEID in BN and a win could be possible. And BN’s civil service is 1500% too large which could rive Malaysia into a Greece type situation where the IMF takes over the country.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — The public must not be “hoodwinked” by PAS’s claim that it embraces pluralism, MCA Youth chief Datuk Wee Ka Siong said today.

This was because PAS’s interference in the administration of Kedah without consultation with its partners in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) showed the Islamist party was anything but pluralist, he said.

Wee (picture) pointed out that this included the setting up of a steering committee with veto powers by PAS to advise the Kedah mentri besar and executive councillors on state administration.

“Who is PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang trying to kid when he extols PAS’s so-called but unproven and never-will-be-proven pluralism?” he said in a statement.

“Why should an external political party determine state policy when the state administration should be determined by the mentri besar in consultation with all PAS, DAP and PKR excos and elected representatives from their parties?”

The Ayer Itam MP said that PAS’s past actions showed that it did not have the interests of all Malaysians at heart.

This includes terminating liquor licences in Kulim, issuing a summons to a Chinese salon owner for her Muslim employee’s three-quarter sleeve blouse and tearing down the sole pig abattoir in Kedah, among others.

“We must recall that after the 2011 PAS Muktamar, Hadi Awang declared that the difference between the (PAS) proposed welfare state and an Islamic state was only a semantic one,” Wee said.

“Thus, I urge all Malaysians irrespective of religious creed or ethnicity not to be hoodwinked by Hadi Awang’s latest portrayal of PAS as all-embracing as they clearly are not.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

BN is no more plural than PAS and PAS appears to be more flexible and possibly more likely to end apartheid than BN at this point. Whats so great about BNs 50+ years of APARTHEID? PAS are you ready to grant :

1) Freedom from Apartheid/Fascism
2) Freedom from Religious-Persecution/Religious-Supremacy.
3) Equality for all ethnicities and faiths in all aspects of policy, Law and Constitution.

If so, PAS is immediately more votable than BN. BN has the mandate but won’t grant the above 3 items, thats 1 down on BN automatically. WOuld PAS promise to grant the above 3 items if given the mandate? BN has the mandate and has not, so BN more rubbish than PAS where pluralism is concerned. PAS can say, ‘But PAS has no madate to grant the 3 items’. BN actually has the mandate, but does not grant the 3 items what’s BN’s excuse? BN is abusing the mandate by not using the mandate to grant the above 3 items.

The Bitter History Of The Man-Made God, page 1 – Topic started on 5-3-2012 @ 09:57 AM by Starchild23

The modern “God”, as defined by man, is a ruthless tyrant, and man a blind race of sheep. I will keep this short, as I don’t feel like providing specific examples. Those of you who have read the Bible, or are familiar with its stories…you who remain utterly faithful to the literal interpretation of its fables…you are the ones I am addressing. You are the blind ones, the ones who believe in the man-defined God (despite the fact that man, as he is, could never hope to understand God) and the ones who will know what I’m talking about as I explain this.

God is a tyrant, and unworthy of our worship (not that we need to worship ANYTHING).

Here is my justification in stating this. God arrogantly created man without the knowledge of good and evil, then demanded that they obey a rule which requires the knowledge of good and evil, then kicked them out when they fail to do so as a result of being inadequately equipped to deal with the issue. Not stopping there, he proceeded to cast Satan out into the same world as them, so that no matter what they did, they would fall into the same trap again and again.

Afterwards, God kills a bunch of people for not paying any attention to him, then plays with them, testing to see what kind of depraved acts they are willing to commit to save their own skins from “damnation”, before going “PSYCHE! got ya! ”

Then God sends his only son to be killed in order to save the people, tricking them into accepting his gift of absorbing all sin, then demanding payment in the form of eternal servitude…the alternative being the fiery pits of hell for all of forever.

And in the end, he will completely ransack the earth, killing half of his blindly devoted servants and making the other half question his sanity, before sending his son back saying, “Did you miss me?” and destroying anyone who ever questioned him. Unless they beg like dogs, of course.

This is the God we have been encouraged to worship for centuries. A loving God, yet a malicious and jealous God. A contradictory, egotistical, whimsical, and highly vindictive all-mighty being.

Is this the entity we are supposed to put our faith in? One that, for all of his power, can think of no other way to erase our sins or redeem our souls than to kill his own son and demand that we serve him for all of eternity?

I call troll. And if you disagree, then you choose to remind faithfully blind. Me, I was given brains for a reason. I’m not choosing ignorance. And let me make it clear that this description (which I firmly believe to be accurate) applies to man’s definition of God. The God we are lead to worship these days is not truly a god, but man’s definition of God. I do not worship a definition. I do not worship a sloppily drawn, crumpled, half burnt image…which is what man’s version of God amounts to. I don’t even believe that the true god desires to be worshiped. I believe that given the choice, the true god would rather have us love each other than Him/Her/It. Because if all it leads to is wars, then why exist at all?

I believe in a god…but not the god that is being pushed upon us by our peers. This is a god who has been constructed, drawn, colored in, and defined by the very men who worship him. Man, who has crippled and despoiled both the world and him/herself. I don’t worship man’s ideals, or anything that has been interpreted by man.

I trust in the true god, not this malicious, vindictive tyrant which the Bible itself says is “jealous and angry.”

Jealousy and anger are not symptoms of true love. And any omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent being would know this.

Wake up, and recognize the true god…the one within you. Namaste.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This article would have been good if not for the proselytizative ‘hail’ FAIL in the form of Namaste at the end of the article. Unsubtle. Just makes people hate Hinduism (not that Hindu is hateful in itself), as much as any ethnically centralized faith does not encompass everyone.

I have often wondered about the bullying nature and innate bloodthirst emanating from the words within some religious texts and dropped Xianity quite quickly because the ‘jealous god’ thing. A jealous god deserves no worship and probably is evil in nature. Whats so godly about god that behaves like a sick minded jealous ‘ex’ or a childish ‘angry’ teen (Sounds like a great ?porn? title . . . (Jealous and Angry Exes From The Kingdom of God . . . )? Worship occurs of the follower’s free will if the God is good, also needs the follower’s personality to be compatible with the ‘commandments’ of that god. Otherwise no worship for that god. The Christ triple entity was a man, but grew as another might have and still may, into the Son of God after deifying the Mother (who became an immaculate conceiver, this is not unknown in nature and CAN occur in hermaphrodites . . .).

Any man (being an image of God), can grow into Sainthood/Anti-Sainthood via many paths (isolation so as to communicate with the spirit appropriate to one’s nature, tantric practices, sacrifice of others (hence the taste for war and on a civilian scale – murder, serial or otherwise), sacrifice of self, formation of world wide hierarchies, propagation of culture and language (this can be reversed or countered via massive populations or cultural programming, linguistic insularism), military might and proselytization being the lowest and weakest, easiest to displace form of Sainthood), and can if well read enough, eventually begin a new religion to finally claim relations to the existing ‘God’ who will most doubtless make known signs of that attempt’s success.

A Holy Book and body of evidence and life events, some of which becomes Apocrypha that splinter sects take up to justify more claimants to godhead by relation, via forming hierarchies, gathering massive wealth, but the truest form of such attempts when enmired in gross materia rather than spiritia, result in the twisted mobs of insane claiming the status of faithful, others becoming inquisitors to tyrannise the population, and others sacrificing lives via crusading – the first ends up as limited/discriminating Ecclesia that can never encompass all humanity, the second tend to be the mirror opposite of paedophiles (both different sides of the same coin), the third depending on the victory of defeat are intended REVISIONISTS or book burners that will rewrite history and befuddle the minds of future generations as typical barbarians do.

It is well possible that overpopulation with low caste persons lowers spiritual power of man overall, that population needs to be lowered so that other species can grow to balance humanity or somehow have other species match humanity’s growth to balance energic balance, humans per se are not balanced emanators of energy, without the other lifeforms’ emanations – which will gather in spirit (en masse) in HUMANS instead to which any individual’s will (the more balanced the more right being given to determine the destiny of the planet) may express itself.

ARTICLE 2

India constructing larger replica of Angkor Wat – The new version of the landmark is set to become the world’s largest Hindu temple complex – by Zoe Li, Hong Kong Editor 6 March, 2012

Angkor Wat replicaThe symbol of Cambodia, soon to be shared by Bihar, India.

Imitation might be the the sincerest form of flattery, but in the global tourism racket replication is the sincerest form of poaching on someone else’s turf.

There’s the “Eiffel Tower” in Las Vegas, and, of course, the entire Austrian village currently being cloned by a Chinese company.

None of these “if you can’t beat ’em, copy ’em” projects, however, are as audacious as the one now underway in India, where a larger version of Cambodia’s UNESCO World Heritage Site Angkor Wat is being built on the banks of the Ganges in the state of Bihar.

A foundation-laying ceremony for the temple took place on March 5 at the 16-hectare site near Hajipur, about 25 kilometers north of Bihar’s capital Patna.

The Mahavir Mandir Trust will undertake the US$20 million project that will take an estimated 10 years to complete. The trust has built a number of hospitals and temples in Bihar, mainly funded by donations.

“The launch of the project has been timed to coincide with the ongoing centenary year celebrations of the foundation of Bihar,” the trust’s secretary, Acharya Kishore Kunal, told The Hindustan Times.

Angkor Wat is Cambodia’s national icon and was built in the early 12th century by King Suryavarman II.

It was first a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Later it became a Buddhist site.

Bihar’s version of Angkor Wat will be called Virat Angkor Wat Ram temple. It hopes to claim the title of world’s largest Hindu temple complex with the tallest point reaching 67.6 meters, slightly taller than the original.

“The selected site for construction of the temple has mythological significance,” said Kunal of the site in the Vaishali district. “It is believed that the deities Ram, Lakshman and Vishvamitra had visited and were welcomed by King Sumati of the Vaishali kingdom.”

Angkor Wat is Cambodia’s biggest tourist draw and appears on the Cambodian flag. The number of foreign visitors at Cambodia’s Angkor Wat Archaeological Park reached 206,000 in January 2012, nearly 30 percent more than the same month last year.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Occult Theories on what is going on behind a supposedly simple building project.

Look here, the Chola Imperium and other ethnic Indian empires dominated alongside China, the Indo-Chinese region all the way to the borders of China, Australia, up to Zoroastrian Persia (modern Iran, less so Afghanistan, tajikistan and Pakistan though Indian cultural influences are known to have had headways even then – at least until the 2nd Crusade Golden Horde Mongols charged through the region after the first crusade as Hun Mongols possibly . . . ) and controlled even the southern and middle regions of the Malay (Orang Asli) archipelago and the Western parts Indonesia. That is why there was even an Angkor Wat at all. What this building does, is recall and revive the Indian Hindu-cratic Imperium centralised in India. The Cham and other co-opted proto-Malay/Orang-Asli/Aboriginal peoples were very much Hindu for centuries (until the rise of the Malacca Sultanate perhaps?) and mixed with Indian bloodlines in some cases.

This is no copy but a REVIVAL. Who knows the Vaishali Court could be revived as well? If India installs a High Priest at this new temple with the appropriate symbolism and intent etc.. Cambodia could well again be a spiritual colony of India rather than a spiritual PUPPET of the West. Cambodia, you should know that your neighbours are Asians and headed by India and China, why do you attempt to be the Israel of East Asia and try to offend these 2 powers? The more we look at things, Hollywood appears more like a propaganda weapon than anything else, while entertaining, being full of agenda makes the outfit not much pleasure to be around.

if you can’t beat ’em, copy ’em” is inaccurate, India CAN actually beat Cambodia military at any time, and is not copying Cambodia but REMINDING ‘them’ instead where the Angkor Wat structure was conceived. Nepal is where Buddhism came from, India is where Hinduism came from, the architecture in Angkor is HINDU. The Buddhists merely co-opted the structure. Quite rude of CNN to say this is copying, more skewed reporting CNN? If you read Buddhist history, a terrible affront was made to Agni by cobnversion of Agni’s worshippers to Buddhism during the would be egregore Buddha’s early days, and shaving of their hair (which are the gift of the gods).

Occultism wise, this is India’s (and also Hinduism’s) response to the seemingly innocuous ‘The Cradle of Life’ Die Wiege des Lebens 2003 and nominally the ‘Temple of Doom’ Steven Spielberg 1984. Fully expect that Die Wiege des Lebens and Steve Spielberg are BOTH Masons and Occultists, Hindu India is now retaliating and ‘recalling’ if you ask me. Both Buddhism and Hinduism are fighting for dominance with West partly using Buddhism, making spiritual inroads into Indo-China via Cambodia AND Buddhism as well as Tibet AND Buddhism – suffice to say Buddhism is being used as a weapon of ‘Reverse Spiritual Colonisation’ against the East (or the Indian and Chinese members of the BRICS – Russia and the best of Marxism only being partially subverted through Gorbachev).

There’s the “Eiffel Tower” in Las Vegas that is occult in intent (siphoning off the luck of of France to that gambling capital if you ask me), and, of course, the entire Austrian village currently being cloned by a Chinese company is a way to keep tourist dollars back home, and for the poorer Chinese who cannot afford the exchange rate and may never get to go to Europe because it the trip will be too expensive. I think after these series of events, the ether and astral would be conscious and aware of what is happening in film and satellite emissions henceforth. There will be no more trickery of the akhasic and any ‘God-forms’ via these false events that have no reality equivalent in the physical world.

If the colonial powers would be ready to return all stolen physical artifacts as identified throughout this blog, they may yet have a future among the conscientious and honest among mankind whatever their faith system, otherwise Arizona (perhaps the worst of slaughters in NAs???) and California (Hollywood may have brought down that state) and any other locations offending, (for a start at any rate) will be ‘finished’.

Set in the sweltering Arabic deserts and other locales, Nathan Drake is once again accompanied by Victor ‘Sully’ Sullivan in a quest to find the mythical city ‘Iram of the Pillars’ .

The story goes that Iram was a magnificent city that was the jewel of the desert sand. Many ancient kings and kingdoms traded with Iram and it flourished unperturbed until a chance encounter with the Deity, who disapproved of certain practice. According to Islamic texts Legend has it that the King Shahhad defied warnings from a prophet Husd regarding certain practices and God unleashed huis fury on the city. It was driven into the sands, its glory, wealth and its people perishing into the endless sands of the desert. Referred to in some texts as Ubar ( it is the region that is called Ubar and the people Ubarites) Iram is considered forever lost. Westerners become aware of this legendary lost city in the translations of 1001 Arabian Nights. The legendary Lawrence of Arabia himself, TE Lawrence, referred to the city as the ‘Atlantis of the Sands’.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Now here’s a spiritual theory on the spiritual background alongside the comings and goings of political parties and the original peoples of East Malaysia which the village shamans of the Orang Asli, (Orang Asli being the original inhabitants of East Malaysia since 50,000 b.c. or even earlier, with Nusantaran Animism the original faith system 1000s of years old, and Islam only present from the later 1800s onwards for East Malaysia and 1200s for West Malaysia . . . ), could best relate to.

When DAP of the Pakatan Coalition used the ‘Ubah’ puppet (as the ‘initiated’ or those studied know – the mascot has a variable power of sorts – which is why China dropped the 5 cartoon mascots for their own Olympics at the last moment) using the innocuous Hornbill no less, to court the OrangAsli with, DAP was in fact mounting a spiritual attack on the orang asli’s spiritualism. The intent was to make Ubah the mascot of the Orang Asli, and be extension make Ubah UBAR and thus related that the Orang Asli are a ‘LOST’ people, removing the shamanistic Nusantaran Animist ‘Deitys influence ‘ which doubtless has similarity to the UBAR Deity.

Figured the Pakatan creeps' NLP based modus operandi out?

By making the ‘Deity’ think the Orang Asli were ‘lost’ (as UBAR is mixed up with UBAH) and no longer there, the protection of the Orang Asli mind would be no longer extended (the Deity has alot of work elsehwere on Earth AT ALL TIMES in ALL PLACES) and open up the Orang Asli to conversions by the Christians (DAP) and Muslims (PAS). Once again I remind, Pakatan is no pure minded coalition and with this form of spiritual insult, the Orang Asli might as well vote speecifically ONLY for Orang Asli and Nusantaran Animist candidates. This is no attack on any monotheistic faith but an exhortation to use honesty instead of sneaky proselytization to ‘convert’ and destroy the Nusantaran Animist faith of an already oppressed people who have had much of their land stolen and still no solution to regain what they have lost via rampant, likely illegal issuance of citizenships to specifically people ready to conveniently convert to Islam to ‘occupy’ East Malaysia. Except by voting only Orang Asli and East Malaysian born persons, there is no other way to preserve this spiritual tradition or regain the Orang Asli’s sovereignty.

Finally Borneo likely could be considered a single item and may need a form of autonomy from both Malaysia and Indonesia and union spiritually within the peoples living on Borneo. If this post is offensive, please inform, I will edit and remove if necessary.

British explorers prepare to drill into lost Antarctic world buried for a million years almost two miles beneath the ice By Rob Cooper Last updated at 8:53 AM on 16th January 2012

British explorers are preparing to drill through almost two miles of ice into an Antarctic lake as they seek clues about life one million years ago.

The team used a ‘tractor train’ to tow nearly 70 tonnes of equipment to the Lake Ellsworth drilling site which is one of the most hostile environments on earth as they prepare for the operation.

They will return in November to collect water and sediment from the buried lake using space industry standard ‘clean technology’.

British team: The UK flag flies at lake Ellsworth where the drilling will take place later this year. 70 tonnes of equipment has since been moved into place ready for the operation

They hope the samples will provide clues about the Earth’s past climate.

It could also help scientists assess the present-day stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and implications for future rises in the sea level.

The advance party, comprising four British engineers, braved temperatures of -35C as they transported the drilling equipment.

They used powerful tractors to tow heavy containers of equipment on sledges and skis across deep snow and through steep mountain passes.

Explorers: The team of four who are braving freezing conditions to work at the Lake Ellsworth site

Final frontier: The British team will live in tents at the site as they collect samples from 1.8miles below the ice

The 155-mile journey through the Ellsworth Mountain Range took them three days to complete.

Scientists have been planning the investigation for more than 15 years.

The Lake Ellsworth Programme Principal Investigator, Professor Martin Siegert from the University of Edinburgh, said: ‘The completion of this stage of the mission is a welcome one – we are now one step closer to finding out if new and unique forms of microbial life could have evolved in this environment.

‘The samples we hope to capture from Lake Ellsworth will be hugely valuable to the scientific community.

‘This year we will complete and test both the water sampling probe and the sediment corer.

Frozen wastes: Lake Ellsworth, where the drilling is being carried out, is in the West of Antarctica. There are more than 400 subglacial lakes across Antarctica

‘Extracted sediment samples could give us an important insight in to the ancient history of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, including past collapse, which would have implications for future sea level rise.’

During phase two of the project researchers will use a high-pressure drill to create a borehole through 1.8miles of ice.

They will then lower a titanium probe to measure and sample the water, followed by a corer to extract sediment from the lake.

It will take around three days to drill through the ice and the scientists will have about 24 hours to gather samples before the hole starts to freeze over.
Plan: This graph shows how the team intend to drill to the bottom of the lake

Plan: This graph shows how the team will create a 1.8mile borehole to the bottom of the lake over three days before lowering a corer to extract sediment

The equipment has been left one mile from the actual drilling site so that the location remains unaffected by the equipment’s presence.

Lake Ellsworth is around 8.6 miles long, 1.2-1.8 miles wide and 150m deep, around the size of Loch Katrine in the Trossachs, or Lake Windermere in the Lake District.

Chris Hill, Advance Party Member and Lake Ellsworth Programme Manager said: ‘This is a major milestone for the programme and we are delighted that our complex logistical operations were a success this season.

‘Working within the short Antarctic summer season adds pressure to our time on the continent, which is why we had to plan two stages of the programme.’

The Lake Ellsworth programme is a consortium, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), between British Antarctic Survey and the National Oceanography Centre – and the UK university sector.

Completely waste of time and money.

– dave, london, 16/1/2012 20:42
Rating 1

So what if they are, just so long as we are the ones who lat first claim to it and the profits come our way seeing as we are the ones carrying out this operation then i have no qualms whatsoever.

– Christopher, Kent, 16/1/2012 19:39
Rating 1

Underneath antarctica there is a vast amount of cheese. – The Great Ferret, Land of Trousers, 16/1/2012 14:43 ============== You’re crackers TGF!! p.s. Jacob’s OK?

– Nigel, Newport, 16/1/2012 19:11
Rating 3

Re- ahab. It’s obvious that ice will not melt at -35c but at that temperature it will flow downhill towards the sea and the seas around Antarctica are getting warmer. The most significant cause for the recent collapse of several iceshelves is warmer water melting the underneath of them and causing them to weaken and disintigrate. When you consider that most of the ice in Antarctica is resting on land that is below sea level the temperature of the sea will be critical and a -35c temperature will not save the ice from flowing into warmer seas.

– Working class hero, eussr, 16/1/2012 19:00
Rating 2

I’ve read many dumb comments on many articles but the comments on this one have to be the dumbest yet.

Oh god, Its going to happen. Alien vs Predator. So thats what 2012 is!!!!! [[[ *** Actually it’s more like ‘Soldier’ and the Argentine Moons scene as well – PW thinks hes Kurt Russel if anything when people are still languishing in English prisons in London from badly written laws and a cobwebby/toff dominated legal establishment . . . *** ]]]

– Someone, Wales, 16/1/2012 17:18
Rating 5

Still in search for that elusive global warming are they?

– Chas, Reno, USA, 16/1/2012 16:45
Rating 2

Laugh if they pull up a shopping trolley

– Johnp, Wrexham, 16/1/2012 15:37

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Time for NAM and BRICS backed with the full force of fairplay in equitable national land mass ratio distribution of Polar land to take an ‘Equitable Artic/Antarctic Land Distribution Initiative’ to prevent inequitable sequestration of Polar land. The Poles belong to all nations and distribution of Polar land along time line/zones should reflect that.

From the looks of things, England has just invaded the Argentinian owned portion of the South Pole which all Northern hemisphere nations should not access (North Hemisphere nations should only have access to the North Pole in ratio of their own land mass and not by brute force of the military – which means even North Korea and Cuba have a right to some of that Artic land being in the Northern hemisphere, though not alot). Send in the troops to expel the illegal and non-sanctioned activities on your sovereign Polar territory Argentina! Back to the Nortehn hemisphere you North hemisphere pPolar portion legal English . . . you sure won’t like finding Argentinians on your Polar backyard now would you?

Join the BRICS Argentina! See if the English dare to offend the BRICS grouping which makes up 40% of the world’s population, 25% of the world’s landmass and 25% of the world economy, also the faster growing nations as well. England is already not well loved by the OIC for incursions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Would England risk so much for a handful of islands not even in their EEZ?

ARTICLE 2

Prince William arrives in Falklands for tour of duty sparking riots in Buenos Aires by Leon Watson Last updated at 1:23 AM on 3rd February 2012

He’s been branded a ‘conqueror’, and the lead up to his visit sparked a wave protests in Argentina. But when Prince William touched down in the disputed Falkland Islands he got a warm welcome. In Argentina however, violence broke out.

The Duke of Cambridge’s arrival, ahead of a tour of duty as an RAF search and rescue pilot, comes as the Royal Navy prepares to send one of its most advanced new warships to the area.

It followed a march led by around 50 members of the Quebracho group which claims sovereignty of the Falkland Islands for Argentina called on the national government to cut trade relations with Britain.

At the rally in the city’s Retiro neighbourhood, in front of a monument to the Argentine soldiers killed in the 1982 conflict, the Quebracho leader Esteche Fernando said ‘we must cut our losses’ against ‘imperial policy’.

‘You have to cut trade relations with Great Britain,’ he said, accompanied by hundreds of masked men armed with sticks.

Asked if the arrival of William was a ‘provocation’ by London, he added: ‘This sort of reigniting the Falkland Islands British foreign policy is more about hiding the financial crisis and economic suffering.

‘But it is a continuation of imperial policy, and whether a crisis point or not, it is a strategic reconfiguration of energy resources.’

The Argentinean government today claimed William’s deployment was a distraction from Britain’s ‘internal problems’.

Vice-president Amado Boudou told the country’s La Red radio station that the move was a case of ‘bravado’ to mask high unemployment and the prospect of Scottish independence.

His words follow reports that Buenos Aires is putting pressure on a Chilean airline to stop weekly flights to the Falklands which pass through Argentine airspace.

David Cameron’s official spokesman said such ‘threats’ were ‘not new,’ adding: ‘Clearly, we hope that that flight will not be cut, but there are also RAF services from London to the Falklands and these will continue.’

The Ministry of Defence said William’s six-week posting to the remote outcrop, which Buenos Aires calls Las Malvinas, was part of a ‘a routine operational deployment’.

The Duke – who has flown to the archipelago as part of a crew of four RAF personnel – will attend a series of briefings and take part in a ‘familiarisation flight’ before he begins his search and rescue work.
Masked demonstrators lift their sticks during the protest against the arrival of Britain’s Prince William to the Falkland Islands

Masked demonstrators lift their sticks during the protest against the arrival of Britain’s Prince William to the Falkland Islands
A paint bomb is lobbed at HSBC in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as protesters rally against Prince William’s visit to the Falklands
Pedestrians walk by a graffiti which reads ‘English, get out of Malvinas’, that was painted during a protest on the front door of an HSBC Bank branch

Pedestrians walk by a graffiti which reads ‘English, get out of Malvinas’, that was painted during a protest on the front door of an HSBC Bank (right) and a protester lobs a paint bomb at the branch

A masked demonstrator hurls a bottle containing paint at the front door of the HSBC Bank branch

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘MOD can confirm Flight Lieutenant Wales, as part of a four-man Search and Rescue crew, has arrived in the Falkland Islands on a routine operational deployment and will shortly take up SAR duties post a period of briefings and a familiarisation flight.’

The Duchess, who will not be joining her husband abroad, will have the latest addition to their family – a male cocker spaniel puppy – for company while he is away.

The Duke’s deployment in the Falklands comes amid a diplomatic war of words between the British and Argentine Governments.
Prince William and Kate Middleton, who will not be joining her husband abroad

Prince William and Kate Middleton, who will not be joining her husband abroad
Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez Kirchner
It comes amid a diplomatic war of words over renewed Argentinian claims to what it calls Las Malvinas, with David Cameron accusing them of ‘colonialism

War of words: Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernandez, has attacked David Cameron’s ‘colonialism’ statement, saying Britain didn’t have ‘reasons or arguments’

It follows an announcement that HMS Dauntless, an ultra-modern Type 45 destroyer, is due to set sail for the South Atlantic on her maiden mission in the coming months.

She is expected to replace frigate HMS Montrose in the region.

The Royal Navy has rejected suggestions the decision to send the destroyer to the area was a riposte to increased tensions over the sovereignty of the Falklands and said the ship’s deployment was long planned.

The Royal Navy’s HMS Dauntless, which is being sent to the Falkland Islands, the Ministry of Defence said

William’s posting has been similarly defended by the MoD as part of a ‘normal’ squadron rotation.

But it has been branded a ‘provocative act’ by Argentina.

In the latest salvo, the country’s Foreign Ministry said it ‘rejected the British attempt to militarise (the) conflict’ and expressed regret that an heir to the throne would arrive wearing ‘the uniform of a conqueror’.

David Cameron and Argentine president Cristina Fernandez have previously accused each other of ‘colonial’ behaviour, while Argentine official Sebastian Brugo Marco last year said the country could not ignore the ‘political’ implications of William’s deployment.

General Sir David Richards, the Chief of the Defence Staff, dismissed the claims, saying: ‘I can absolutely tell you it wasn’t and isn’t designed to be.’

William, who has worked as a Sea King pilot while based at his north Wales home on Anglesey, is following in the footsteps of his younger brother, Prince Harry, who was sent to Afghanistan as a forward air controller in 2008.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

go get ’em….attacking the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank…..bound to force the Chinese out of the Malvinas! :-$

– skipper, Gloucester, 03/2/2012 01:28
Rating 35

Dont worry, if a war kicks off, Prince dopey will be well outter harms way !! They talk the talk the royals but when the bullets start flying they run off to a nice warm office and let working class lads do the fighting ( for about 16 grand a year ). Yep, the same working class lads who the royals and the elite classes absolutely despise !! Tell you one thing, next world war, don’t think i’ll be putting my butt on the line for you, no chance, your on your own. Im no mug, not risking my life to preserve your wealth.

– dave, liverpool, 03/2/2012 01:25
Rating 37

two words to Argentina shut Up

– Paul Gilbert, United Kingdom, 03/2/2012 01:25
Rating 53

Ignorance of the history of the Falkland Islands is a shame. Study the History. Argentina has no rational claim to the Islands.

– D-Mac, Brisbane Australia, 03/2/2012 00:18
Rating 66

can someone pls tell me and the nation, why we need to know this infomation? Why cant the P of W carry out a duty, without this paper or any other telling the world about it. It is the ‘NEED TO KNOW’ and we dont need to know this. All this sort of things do is give ammo to protestors. Put a ban on all this rubbish. when he has finish his deployment. A simple small headline. ” Prince back in Wales’………………..no one will know where he has been , so no reaction. Stop give info to the ‘otherside’.

– tony, wales, 03/2/2012 00:15
Rating 16

LOVE IT – William the Conqueror has reached out to smite the Argentinians from a thousand miles away. He’s sealing a legendary status without a shot being fired. YOU DO NOT MESS WITH THE CONQUEROR!

– John Smith, Kimberley, 03/2/2012 00:15
Rating 28

Please tell me why in hell did the Princes movements have to be publicised, It is a military movement of personell, nothing to do with the public. When Prince Harry goes to Afganistan is it going to be headlined, where is the security for our troops.

– Brian, Callala Bay, Australia. , 03/2/2012 00:11
Rating 33

I wonder if the Argentinian or the Engish government is paying those masked men to create chaos. War is something very interesting for hidden agendas.

– Julio Cesar, sao paulo, 03/2/2012 00:09
Rating 4

@ Congratulations to HRH and to all British Personnel abroad. May they all have safe and successful tours. – Scott , Exeter , 02/02/2012 19:38 Congratulations for what your bonkers

– say no to the nwo, Manchester, 03/2/2012 00:06
Rating 15

Falklands belong to argentina. We sympathise with argentinians in this land grab by the british.

– Indian, Delhi, 03/2/2012 00:06

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Argentinians, if you riot in Buenos Aires, you end up thrashing your own town and inconveniencing fellow Argentines. Try taking as many ‘Quebraco’ type posses to the Falklands and OCCUPY the place instead. Ask the Englishmen there which are ready to renounce English citizenship for Argentinian ones and to take the Argentinian pledge. These English citizenship renouncers who are now Argentinian citizens (although of English ethnicity) should be left alone as they are loyal Argentinians. The rest of the English refusing to accept this generous offer, who are colonial reprobates do not even recognize the fact that the Falklands are within the EEZ of Aergentina, jolly well fly themselves back to jolly England with Prince William! Or if Argentina is up to it, maroon those morons in the Falklands and see what England does! I bet even the USA would have a good laugh due to the unpleasant historial background as per the War of Independence . . .